Image source, The Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters

As the security cabinet meeting takes place, families of hostages have been speaking at an event in Tel Aviv this morning, calling for the ceasefire deal to be finalised.

"I welcome this deal with a joy in my heart for every hostage saved," says Michel Illouz, the father of 26-year-old Guy Illouz, who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival by Hamas and is believed to have died in Gaza.

"This deal comes too late for my son Guy whose life will not be saved but he can be brought back home for burial here," he tells the audience.

"Our work is not done, we will not rest until every hostage is home - the living and the dead - they all need to return to us, to their family."

Huda Matrabie, a Gazan who has been displaced several times during the conflict, says the ceasefire "can feel like a fragile moment of relief".

"For many of us, it brings us a sense of hope, a hope that perhaps this time might be different, so the possibility of rebuilding, returning to a normal life, even if just for a while," she tells the BBC Newsday programme from northern Gaza.

But she adds that "with this hope, comes real fear" that the deal could break down.

"The fear is not just of the immediate danger, but of the emotional toll - constant uncertainty and the ever-present feeling that are lives are not truly our own," she adds.

Image source, Getty Images

Joel Gunter
Reporting from Jerusalem

After several delays, the Israeli cabinet is reportedly meeting to discuss the ceasefire deal, and the prime minister’s office has said it expects the release of hostages as early as Sunday.

The deal looks to be on track, but pitfalls remain:

• Far-right members of Israel’s government, led by national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have threatened to resign over the terms of the deal and have yet to withdraw that threat
• There is a potential logistical hurdle in the form of the Sabbath, which would prevent working on Saturday, in the crucial final hours before the deal is expected to come into force. This hurdle could be overcome, if necessary, by a religious exemption available in Jewish law that allows for the breaking of the Sabbath in order to save a life
• Another sticking point could come in the form of a 48-hour period granted by Israeli law, under which anyone can object to the specific Palestinian prisoners being released in exchange for hostages. The 48-hour period, which begins with the publication of the names of the Palestinian prisoners, could reportedly be shortened via the courts

The more significant obstacles may arrive after phase one of the deal is agreed. The release of the hostages in small groups over six weeks could be fraught and fall apart at any moment, if either side cannot follow through or chooses to renege.

Netanyahu’s fragile political coalition could also fall apart during the process, threatening his ability to see through the terms of the deal as agreed.

We've had confirmation from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the security cabinet meeting has begun in Jerusalem.

The security cabinet needs to vote to accept the deal and then the wider Israeli government cabinet must formally approve it, before the ceasefire can come into force.

The statement adds: "Earlier, an operational security situation assessment was held regarding the implementation of the agreement, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, together with the negotiating team that returned from Doha."

The prime minister's office also released a photo alongside the statement:

Image source, IsraeliPM/X

How much aid has been getting into Gaza?published at 10:01 Greenwich Mean Time

10:01 GMT

By Nick Eardley

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is desperate, with 91% of the population facing acute food insecurity according to the UN.

Aid supplies have fallen sharply since the conflict began, according to figures by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Before October 2023, an average of 500 aid trucks, including fuel, entered Gaza daily.

Truckload numbers have dropped considerably since.

UN figures since the conflict do not include fuel or, from May 2024, private sector cargo. But in October 2024 the daily average was just 37 trucks. This prompted US President Joe Biden to demand concrete measures on aid from Israel, but these demands were not met.

Aid agencies – like the Norwegian Refugee Council – have accused Israel of failing to fulfil its legal obligation to facilitate aid. They have also documented disruption caused by Palestinian looters and criminal gangs.

Israel has denied restricting aid, blaming the UN for inefficiencies in distribution.

UN's children’s agency Unicef says they've seen "thousands of aid pallets" held up in warehouses in Jordan waiting to go into Gaza.

But Unicef spokeswoman Rosalia Bollen tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We're very hopeful the conditions on the ground improve with a ceasefire."

She says even if the aid does make it in, there will be challenges to distribute it because of the "security environment and damage to infrastructure."

Image source, Reuters

The first hostages could be released as early as Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu's office says, subject to the approval of the ceasefire deal by Israel's security cabinet and government.

In a statement the Israeli prime minister's office says: "Subject to approval by the cabinet and the government, and the entry into force of the agreement - the release of the hostages can be realised according to the planned outline, in which the hostages are expected to be released as early as Sunday."

We're seeing reports from the AFP news agency and Israeli media that the security cabinet meeting to approve the deal has begun.

We'll bring you more when we have it.

Joel Gunter
Reporting from Jerusalem

Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz has cancelled all administrative detention orders against Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, as part of the anticipated ceasefire deal, the defence ministry has announced.

Israel has jailed tens of thousands of people using administrative detention - a controversial security policy that allows the state to hold people indefinitely without charge.

The policy has been used to detain a very small number of Israeli settlers, but it is overwhelmingly used against Palestinians in the West Bank, who face a 99% conviction rate under the policy in Israeli military courts.

Katz said the cancellation of the few detention orders against Israeli settlers was intended to “send a clear message of support and encouragement to the settlement community”.

It was, he added, “better for the families of Jewish settlers to find joy than for the families of released terrorists”.

Katz had already announced last November that detention orders would no longer be issued against settlers. Today’s announcement cancels all existing orders.

• How Israel jails hundreds of Palestinians without charge

David Gritten
BBC News

Image source, Reuters

Israel’s security cabinet, also known as the Ministerial Committee on National Security Affairs, is due to meet later today to vote on the ceasefire deal.

The security cabinet is responsible for guiding Israel’s national security and foreign policies. It is a smaller body than the full cabinet - besides the prime minister, it must include the ministers of defence, foreign affairs, justice, finance and national security.

The prime minister can also appoint additional ministers to the body, provided the overall number of members does not exceed half of the number of ministers in the full cabinet.

Various leaders of parties in the governing coalition and other senior lawmakers are in the current security cabinet.

They currently include two far-right leaders, national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who oppose the Gaza ceasefire deal and threatened to quit over it.

Image source, Reuters

As we've just reported, the ceasefire may have been signed but air strikes in Gaza have continued, with Gaza's civil defence agency reporting more people killed in the past day.

"I woke up to a familiar sound of buzzing of drones flying over the skies of Gaza", says spokeswoman Rosalia Bollen, spokeswoman for the UN's children’s agency Unicef.

Bollen tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme the ceasefire deal was met with great joy in Gaza "but in the meantime attacks have continued, air strikes have been reported with dozens of people reported killed".

"So this ceasefire still needs to materialise," she says - and that returning children to their homes will be one of the first things Unicef wants to do when the ceasefire comes into effect.

Image source, Reuters

More than 100 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip by Israeli strikes since the ceasefire deal was announced on Wednesday night, Gaza's Hamas-run Civil Defence agency says in an updated death toll this morning.

Spokesman Mahmoud Basal says 101 people, including 27 children and 31 women, have been killed and more than 264 wounded.

He says nine people were killed in an Israeli strike last night on a house in the al-Jurn area in northern Gaza, and another five were killed yesterday when a home was hit in central Gaza.

Bombing continued in several areas of the Strip on Friday morning, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Image source, Reuters

The deal is in three stages. The first six-week phase of the deal would see 33 hostages - including women, children and elderly people - exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Israeli forces will also withdraw to the east away from densely populated areas of Gaza, displaced Palestinians will be allowed to begin returning to their homes and hundreds of aid lorries will be allowed into the territory each day.

Negotiations for the second phase - which should see the remaining hostages released, a full Israeli troop withdrawal and a return to "sustainable calm" - would start on the 16th day.

The third and final stage would involve the return of any remaining hostages' bodies and the reconstruction of Gaza - something which could take years.

• More: What we know about the Gaza ceasefire deal

A majority of Israeli ministers are expected to back the deal - but some far-right politicians are threatening to quit over it, including Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Another politician, Ohad Tal, who chairs the far-right Religious Zionist party in the Israeli parliament, also strongly opposes the deal and last night told the BBC he and his colleagues were considering whether to quit Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government.

"We want to make sure that the implication will be that we are returning to fight Hamas, and we have a plan on how to finish the job, how to make sure Hamas will be eliminated", says Tal.

He adds that he and his colleagues will stay in government if they can get some of these guarantees but there wouldn't be any point in staying if they didn't.

Jeremy Bowen
International Editor, reporting from Jerusalem

Donald Trump has made an impact on the Middle East even before he sits down in the Oval Office to start his second term as president.

He cut through the delaying tactics Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in alliance with his ultranationalist coalition partners, had used to avoid accepting the ceasefire deal Joe Biden put on the table last May.

US pressure on Hamas and other Palestinian groups is a given. Under Biden, pressure on Israel was the lever that was never pulled. Trump starts his second term claiming credit, with reasonable justification, for getting the ceasefire deal in Gaza over the line. He can bask in some glory.

Netanyahu, on the other hand, is dealing with a coalition crisis. The entire principle of doing a deal with Hamas is repugnant to the ultranationalist politicians who have supported his government. One of them, the national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir says his party, Jewish Power will only support the government if it resumes the war, cuts off all aid to Gaza and destroys Hamas. If that does not happen he will resign.

That will be of no importance to Donald Trump. The push for a Gaza ceasefire demonstrated that Trump would put the interests of his presidency before the political requirements of Israel's prime minister.

• Read in full: Israel has changed since Donald Trump's last term – has he?

When mediators Qatar and US first announced the deal, they said the agreement would come into effect on Sunday, pending Israeli cabinet approval.

But after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed a security cabinet vote from yesterday to today, accusing Hamas of trying to "extort last minute concessions", there are reports the first hostages may not be freed until Monday.

There is still time on Friday for the security cabinet to approve the agreement before the Sabbath - the Jewish day of rest - begins.

And there is also a religious exemption for working on the Sabbath if saving a life, which signing off on the ceasefire could be considered to meet. But as for now it is unclear when the deal will come into force.

Israel's PM has confirmed a deal has been reached to release the hostages, following months of negotiations.

In a statement released overnight, his office says: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been updated by the negotiating team that agreements have been reached on a deal for the release of the hostages.

"The prime minister has directed that the security cabinet be convened later today (Friday). The government will be convened later in order to approve the deal."

As a reminder, Israel's security cabinet is a smaller inner group of ministers within the larger government cabinet.

The statement adds that the hostages' families have been updated and preparations have started for the hostages to return to Israel.

Jon Donnison
Reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, Reuters

After a last-minute delay, Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says the Israeli negotiating team have confirmed that the deal has been finalised.

The country’s security cabinet and then the government will now need to meet to ratify the agreement.

Two hardline right-wing ministers, Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who both oppose the deal say they will resign in protest.

But they've signalled they will not join the opposition - to bring the government down - yet, so long as the war resumes in six weeks' time, when phase one of the ceasefire and hostage release deal ends.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he expects the ceasefire to start on Sunday as planned with the release of the first three Israeli hostages.

The civil defence agency in Gaza said at least 80 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since the deal was first announced, with Israel’s military saying it had hit more than 50 targets across the territory.