The Israeli security cabinet approved a ceasefire deal on Friday, paving the way for the return of the first hostages from Gaza as early as Sunday and bringing a halt to 15 months of conflict that have devastated the Palestinian coastal strip.

The plan includes the release of Israeli captives and Palestinian prisoners, the crossing of wounded Palestinian combatants and civilians to Egypt and the return of internally displaced people to their homes in northern Gaza.

Israel and Hamas have agreed a ceasefire to halt the 15-month war in Gaza and free the remaining hostages, mediators said, raising hopes of an end to a devastating conflict that has shaken the Middle East and the world beyond.

Hamas has accepted a draft agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of dozens of hostages, two officials involved in the talks said Tuesday.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said talks were at a pivotal point ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration on 20 January.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that a Gaza ceasefire remained close, but reiterated that it may not happen before President Joe Biden hands over to Donald Trump. FRANCE 24’s international affairs editor, Angela Diffley has more.

Gaza ceasefire talks deadlocked as Trump pledges ‘hell to pay’ if hostages are not released by his inauguration.

Israeli and U.S. officials involved in the negotiations for a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal tell Axios they are concerned that the odds of an agreement before President Trump takes office are slim.

Gaps between Israel and Hamas over a possible Gaza ceasefire have narrowed, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials’ remarks on Monday, though crucial differences have yet to be resolved.

Talks to reach a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas are 90% complete, but key issues remain that need to be bridged, a senior Palestinian official involved in the talks told the BBC.

Israeli and Hamas appear close to reaching a ceasefire deal to wind down the war in Gaza.

Israeli negotiators are holding talks with mediators in Doha over a ceasefire with Hamas and the release of hostages from Gaza, as diplomats push for a deal before Donald Trump takes office in January.

The fall of Assad’s regime and Biden’s departure have revived calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. However, Israel holds leverage over talks, argues Emad Moussa.

A month after suspending its mediation bid, Qatar has said it sees “momentum” in efforts to reach a deal to end Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, as dozens of Palestinians were killed in the Israeli military’s continued attacks on the besieged enclave.

Steven Witkoff held talks with Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohammed to discuss deal ahead of inauguration

US President-elect Donald Trump has issued an apparent warning to Hamas, threatening “all hell to pay” if hostages held in Gaza are not released by the time he returns to the White House on 20 January.

Palestinian movement Hamas and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party have agreed to create a committee to jointly run post-war Gaza, negotiators from both sides said Tuesday.

President Joe Biden has said the US will make another push with regional powers for a ceasefire in Gaza, involving the release of hostages and the removal of Hamas from power.

After more than a year of unimaginable death and destruction in the Middle East, there is finally a moment of hope.

A ceasefire between Israel and the powerful Lebanese movement Hezbollah took effect on Wednesday after both sides accepted an agreement brokered by the United States and France.

Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), has set the path for his succession with a new decree that could see one of his loyalists replace him in an interim period.

The United States has vetoed a resolution at the United Nations Security Council demanding an “immediate, unconditional and permanent” ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, as Israel’s bombardment of the Palestinian territory continues.

Efforts for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah have intensified, with Lebanon’s government expected to respond to a draft deal presented by the US, amid an escalation of Israel’s air attacks across the country.

Iran backs any decision taken by Lebanon in talks to secure a ceasefire with Israel, a senior Iranian official said on Friday, signalling Tehran wants to see an end to a conflict that has dealt heavy blows to its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.

Qatar has suspended its work as a mediator in ceasefire and hostage release talks between Israel and Hamas, officials say.

President-elect’s victory was welcomed by far-right Israeli ministers who have called on Israel to cede ground to far-right settler movement.

Proposal leaked as senior Washington officials head to Middle East in effort to end year-long conflict.

Hamas has rejected a ceasefire proposal that would have brought the release of a small number of Israeli captives and a 30-day cessation of hostilities, but no withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s weekend airstrikes against Iran have inspired the usual commentary. Some fear that it marks a severe escalation, spurring the region closer to all-out war. Others hope that it could spark a winding-down of tensions, possibly creating the conditions for a broad cease-fire.

Egypt has proposed a two-day ceasefire in Gaza which would entail an exchange of four Israeli hostages for some Palestinian prisoners, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Sunday.

Negotiations over a potential Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal are set to resume in Doha in the coming days, officials from the US, Israel and Qatar have said.

With Israeli forces pounding targets in northern Gaza and Lebanon despite U.S. objections, Secretary of State Antony Blinken embarked Monday for the Middle East to try to bring about a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas amid signs of Washington’s limited influence over Israeli policy.

US president joins western leaders in urging Israeli PM to seek end to war, as Iran suggests death inspires future generations and Hezbollah vows escalation.

Palestinian group, Hamas, said Thursday that a call by the EU-Gulf summit for a Gaza ceasefire and opening border crossings requires “practical steps” to oblige Israel to halt its genocidal war on the Palestinian enclave, Anadolu Agency reports.

The plan is based on ideas developed by Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

Qatar’s emir has called for ceasefires in Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon and stressed the importance of establishing a Palestinian state at a meeting with European Union leaders in Brussels, Belgium.

The three mediators thought they were on the cusp of a deal to prevent the Middle East conflict spreading. They were mistaken.

Hezbollah officials are no longer demanding a truce in Gaza as a condition for reaching a ceasefire in Lebanon, rowing back from an oft-repeated promise to keep fighting until Israel halts its offensive against Hezbollah’s Iran-backed ally Hamas.

The discussion will outline how the IDF will procure, transport, secure and distribute aid. However, Gallant, IDF chief and the head of the Shin Bet oppose the plan due to risks to soldiers from civilian exposure and concerns over costs and operations.

Palestinians fear the crisis in Lebanon is diverting the world’s attention from Gaza, where Israeli strikes killed dozens more people this week, and diminishing already dim prospects for a ceasefire a year into a war that has shattered the enclave.

The European Union on Tuesday condemned “in the strongest terms” an Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel and called for an immediate ceasefire across the Middle East.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the country’s military to continue fighting with “full force” against the armed group Hezbollah, despite calls from the US and other allies for a ceasefire.

Saudi Arabia has formed a global alliance to push for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the country’s foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said on Thursday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.

After the US, the EU and 10 other counties called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the White House went into spin mode trying to build momentum for its proposal.

Hamas has reportedly rejected the latest US draft offer for a hostage-ceasefire deal with Israel, saying that it is only willing to discuss the outline presented by US President Joe Biden on May 31.

Officials in the United States believe that a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is unlikely before President Joe Biden leaves office in January, according to the Wall Street Journal.

American officials involved in the Gaza cease-fire talks are working with other negotiators to draw up new strategies to convince Israel and Hamas to agree to a cease-fire deal.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to Egypt on Tuesday for his 10th trip to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began nearly a year ago, this one aimed partly at refining a proposal to present to Israel and Hamas for a cease-fire deal and release of hostages.

The PA’s day-after plan for governing Gaza is part of a broader effort to empower the Palestinian government and rebuild trust among our citizens.

After meetings with Qatari and Egyptian mediators on Wednesday, Palestinian militant group Hamas reiterated its “readiness” to adopt President Biden’s Gaza ceasefire deal, originally proposed in May, as pressure grows on Netanyahu to bring home hostages.

A Turkish foreign ministry spokesperson said the United States has been misleading the public by claiming that Gaza ceasefire negotiations have been progressing positively, citing Hamas officials.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defied mounting pressure Monday and insisted his military must maintain control of the area in any cease-fire deal to end the war in Gaza.

Israelis clashed with police in major cities across the country on Sunday night, demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secure a deal with Gaza following the recovery of six captives on Saturday night.

Former prime minister Ehud Olmert and former Palestinian Authority foreign minister Nasser al-Kidwa agree to cooperate on advancing peace between Israelis and Palestinians, including a ceasefire and hostage deal, and the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state, according to a joint statement.

FP’s Ravi Agrawal was joined in conversation by Salam Fayyad, the former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority whose technocratic plan for a sovereign Palestinian state was lauded as “Fayyadism.” Does he still see a path to that future?

The Palestinian Resistance Movement, Hamas has officially rejected the new conditions set by Israel to conclude a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

As negotiations limped on in Cairo this week, aimed at bridging the gaps between Israel and Hamas, leaks to Israeli media suggest that the gaps between Mr Netanyahu and his own negotiators and defence chiefs are getting wider.

A senior US administration official has pushed back at reported comments by Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing the Israeli prime minister of making “maximalist statements” that are “not constructive to getting a ceasefire deal across the finish line”.

US says it has ‘already narrowed some gaps’ in talks, but sources tell MEE that Netanyahu’s conditions are an obstacle and ‘positive’ media leaks are unfounded.

Mediators in talks on a new Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal say they have presented a proposal which “narrows the gaps” between Israel and Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu added new conditions in late July to a ceasefire proposal delivered to American, Egyptian, and Qatari mediators, which has hardened Israel’s position and complicated negotiations, according to documents seen by The New York Times.

Only a ceasefire deal in Gaza stemming from hoped-for talks this week would hold Iran back from direct retaliation against Israel for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on its soil, three senior Iranian officials said.

Hamas has said a ceasefire plan for Gaza must be based on where talks were a month and a half ago rather than any new rounds of negotiations.

The leaders of the US, Egypt and Qatar have called on Israel and Hamas to resume urgent negotiations to finalise a ceasefire and hostage release deal, saying there were no excuses “from any party for further delay”.

Western officials have circulated a new Gaza ceasefire-hostage release proposal in the past four days that could put an end to escalating tensions in the region, according to a Qatari-owned media outlet.

Jonathan Dekel-Chen said he left a meeting last week with President Biden more optimistic that a deal to free his son could be close. But in the intervening days, a new crisis has unfolded with the assassinations of Ismail Haniyeh and Fuad Shukr. Negotiations appear to have halted for now.

Hamas leader’s assassination may lead to regional escalation and accelerate – or sabotage – a peace deal, analysts say.

The leadership of the Palestinian armed group Hamas has been left in “a state of shock” by the assassination of its political leader Ismail Haniyeh, top officials have told the BBC.

Hamas accused Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Monday of preventing a ceasefire in Gaza by adding new conditions and demands to a US-backed truce proposal, after the latest talks conducted through mediators, Reuters reports.

Israel delivered to the U.S. on Saturday its updated proposal for the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, according to an Israeli senior official and two other sources with knowledge of the issue.

Israel is seeking changes to a plan for a Gaza truce and the release of hostages, complicating a final deal to halt its bombing campaign that has devastated the enclave, according to a Western official, a Palestinian and two Egyptian sources.

Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu told US lawmakers “our enemies are your enemies” in a landmark speech to Congress intended to rally support for the war against Hamas in Gaza, but marked by pro-Palestinian protests inside and outside the Capitol.

The U.S., Israel and the United Arab Emirates held a meeting in Abu Dhabi last Thursday to discuss plans for Gaza after the war ends, two Israeli officials said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told families of hostages held in Gaza that a deal that would secure their release could be near, his office said on Tuesday, as fighting raged in the battered Palestinian enclave.

Palestinian factions have signed a “national unity” agreement aimed at maintaining Palestinian control over Gaza once Israel’s war on the enclave concludes.

The UN’s top court has said Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is against international law, in a landmark opinion.

The UAE has backed deploying an international force to provide “law and order” in the besieged Gaza Strip under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority, the clearest sign yet that Gulf powers are inching closer to an agreement for a post-war force in Gaza that the US has been lobbying for.

Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE assistant minister for political affairs and special envoy of the UAE minister of foreign affairs, calls for a temporary international mission in Gaza.

Hamas said Sunday that Gaza cease-fire talks were ongoing and the group’s military commander was in good health, a day after the Israeli military targeted Mohammed Deif with a massive airstrike that local health officials said killed at least 90 people, including children.

Washington Post, citing American officials, says sides have agreed that a 2,500-strong force trained by US will govern territory with help of moderate Arab states

Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused of attempting to sabotage ongoing Gaza ceasefire talks by issuing a new set of “non-negotiable” demands.

Senior U.S. officials are in Cairo for talks to achieve a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, but gaps still remain between the two sides, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Monday.

Hamas has tentatively accepted a US-backed proposal for a phased ceasefire, abandoning demands for an upfront commitment by Israel to end the war entirely. This could initiate a six-week ceasefire for hostage and prisoner exchanges and pave the way for broader talks to conclude the nine-month conflict.

The head of Israel’s spy agency Mossad, David Barnea, is reported to have travelled alone to Doha to meet Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani as momentum is again building over a possible ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to send a team of negotiators to discuss a hostage release deal with Hamas.

Israel and Hamas appear to be on the brink of a framework agreement for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, an Israeli source familiar with the negotiations said.

Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official based in Lebanon, said on Saturday the Palestinian group is still ready to discuss any truce proposal that ends the nearly nine-month conflict.

The European Union is working with Arab states to push forward a peace plan between Israel and Palestine once the Gaza war is over, and perhaps even sooner, a senior EU diplomat has told The National.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is open to a “partial deal” with Hamas that allows him to continue the war on Gaza after some of the captives are released. A deal that permanently ends the war was not an option until Hamas is “eliminated,” he told Channel 14 on Sunday.

The US has indicated it is open to backing an Israeli offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon, amid mounting frustration that the group continues to link a truce with Israel to an elusive broader ceasefire in Gaza.

US special envoy Amos Hochstein arrived in Beirut on Tuesday after visiting Israel a day earlier, as part of US efforts to de-escalate the situation along the Lebanon-Israel border where intense fire exchanges between Hezbollah and the Israeli army are threatening to spill into a wider war.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has told Hamas that it is “time for the haggling to stop”, after its leaders proposed “numerous changes” to a plan for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Interview of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken by Jalal Chahda of Al Jazeera.

Hamas says it has submitted its response to a US-backed plan for a ceasefire in Gaza, with a senior group official telling the BBC that it still requires an Israeli commitment to a permanent ceasefire.

The United Nations Security Council has voted to support a US resolution backing a ceasefire plan for the war in Gaza.

In Middle East capitals, at the UN, from the White House and beyond, the Biden administration is making its most concentrated diplomatic push of the war in Gaza to persuade Israeli and Hamas leaders to take a proposed deal that would bring a cease-fire and release of more hostages.

Talks involving Qatari, Egyptian and U.S. mediators aimed at reaching a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza war were still underway on Thursday but had shown no sign of a breakthrough, two Egyptian security sources said.

The foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar stressed the importance of dealing seriously and positively with US President Joe Biden’s proposal, to agree on a deal that guarantees a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, and the adequate delivery of aid to all parts of the Strip.

The US government has “every expectation” that Israel will accept a ceasefire proposal that would begin with a six-week cessation of hostilities in Gaza if Hamas takes the deal, according to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted there will be no permanent ceasefire in Gaza until Hamas’s military and governing capabilities are destroyed and all hostages are released.

Israel has agreed to a proposal that would lead to a “lasting” ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, US President Joe Biden has announced, as he faces mounting pressure and criticism over his support for the Israeli war effort.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for a peace conference aimed at resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict and ending “tremendous suffering” in Gaza.

A senior Israeli official has said he expects the war against Hamas in Gaza to continue for at least the rest of this year.

The establishment of a Palestinian state is “the only route to peace” in the Middle East, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said as his country announced formal recognition, alongside Norway and Ireland.

The Day After might sound like the title of a film or a novel. But for diplomats and policymakers, the phrase has only one meaning and that is what happens ‘the day after’ the fighting stops in Gaza.

Sunday’s handover of papers came only two days after the UN’s top court ordered Israel to immediately halt its military offensive in southern Gaza.

The U.S. and Saudi Arabia have been pursuing a way out. Can they get Israel on board?

The UN’s top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), has issued a dramatic ruling, ordering Israel to “immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah”.

Norway, Ireland and Spain said Wednesday they are recognizing a Palestinian state in a historic move that drew condemnation from Israel and jubilation from the Palestinians. Israel immediately ordered back its ambassadors from Norway and Ireland.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has applied for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas’s leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, for war crimes.

As Israel bombs and re-bombs the tiny enclave, questions abound about when it will stop and what it will do next.

South Africa has urged the International Court of Justice to order Israel to halt its assault on Rafah as part of its case accusing Israel of genocide against the Palestinians.

The Arab League on Thursday called for a UN peacekeeping force in the occupied Palestinian territories, marking the first time Arab states have officially endorsed an internationalisation of the Israel-Palestine conflict since Israel’s war on Gaza erupted.

Israel’s military operation in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah has set ceasefire negotiations with Hamas “backward”, mediator Qatar has said, adding that the talks have lost steam.

The UN General Assembly has overwhelmingly voted to support a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognising it as qualified to join and recommending the UN Security Council “reconsider the matter favourably”.

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has backed a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognising it as qualified to join and recommending the UN Security Council “reconsider the matter favourably”.

After months of stalemate, the search for peace in Gaza has reached a critical stage. UN chief Antonio Guterres says it is a “decisive moment for the Palestinian and Israeli people and for the fate of the entire region”.

Hamas says it has approved a proposal for a ceasefire in the seven-month Gaza war put forward by mediators Qatar and Egypt although Israel says the proposal falls short of its demands.

Western leaders expressed dismay that Israel might press ahead with an invasion of the tiny area despite a last-ditch bid by Hamas to secure a temporary ceasefire.

Al Jazeera obtained a copy of the Gaza ceasefire proposal that Hamas accepted on Monday. The deal, which was put forward by Egypt and Qatar, would come in three stages that would see an initial halt in the fighting, leading to lasting calm and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian territory.

In their second day of talks with Egyptian and Qatari mediators, Hamas negotiators maintained their stance that any truce agreement must end the war, Palestinian officials said.

The Ministerial Committee assigned by the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit on the Gaza Strip issued the Riyadh Statement, expressing efforts to reach an immediate ceasefire, release of prisoners/hostages, and an end to war on Gaza and all unlawful and unilateral measures in Palestinian Territories.

The US secretary of state hopes Hamas will accept what he has called Israel’s “extraordinarily generous” offer for a Gaza truce and hostage release deal.

Qatar is reassessing its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas, the country’s prime minister has said.

The United States has vetoed a widely supported resolution at the UN Security Council that would have paved the way for the state of Palestine to gain full membership at the United Nations.

After more than six weeks of fighting that has destroyed extensive areas of Gaza and killed thousands, Israel and Palestinian armed group Hamas have agreed to a four-day truce.