Explosions were seen on Gaza's skyline overnight into Friday (10 October) as Israel’s cabinet approved the “outline” of a peace deal. A brief statement from Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the Cabinet approved the “outline” of a deal to release the hostages. Israeli government officials met on Thursday and confirmed they had approved a hostage release plan around 23:30pm BST. A ceasefire was supposed to start immediately, giving the military 24 hours to complete its withdrawal. A ceasefire came into effect at midday local time (10am BST) on Friday, the Israeli military said, giving Hamas 72 hours to release the hostages still held in the Palestinian enclave.

The ceasefire will take effect after ratification by Netanyahu’s government, which meets after Thursday’s security cabinet session.

Donald Trump announced on Wednesday, 8 October, that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire deal. Wild celebrations erupted in both Gaza and Israel,…