Gaza truce and prisoner swap deal reached — Netanyahu

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said a deal to pause war in Gaza and return captives from the besieged Palestinian enclave has been reached.

Friday's announcement came a day after Netanyahu's office said there were last minute snags in talks to free captives in return for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Netanyahu said he will convene his security cabinet and then the government to approve the agreement.

Netanyahu's statement appeared to clear the way for the Israeli government to approve of the deal, which would pause its genocidal war in Gaza and see dozens of captives held in Gaza released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners abducted by Israel.

It would also allow hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to return to the remains of their bombed homes in Gaza.

Despite truce announcement, Israel, meanwhile, killed at least 90 Palestinians in the war-ravaged territory on Thursday.

In its genocidal war on Gaza — now in its 469th day — Israel has reportedly killed some 46,800 Palestinians and wounded 110,453 others.

Studies show the death toll documented by Palestinians is a conservative estimate and far behind the actual death toll, which could be around 200,000.

According to the medical journal The Lancet, some 186,000 may have died since Israel's invasion of Gaza began in October 2023. The Lancet also estimates that the death toll caused by direct Israeli military action in Gaza up to June 2024, was 64,260, 41 percent higher than recorded by Palestinian health officials.

In Lebanon, Israel has killed more than 4,068 people since October 2023.

Delay in confirmation

Israel initially delayed a vote on the ceasefire on Thursday, falsely blaming a last-minute dispute with Hamas for holding up the approval as rising tensions in Netanyahu's extremist coalition government raised concerns about the implementation of the deal just a day after US President Joe Biden and key mediator Qatar announced it was complete.

Netanyahu's office had falsely accused Hamas of reneging on parts of the agreement in an attempt to gain further concessions — without specifying which parts.

Hamas denied those claims, with Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official, saying the resistance group "is committed to the ceasefire agreement, which was announced by the mediators."

The ceasefire agreement has drawn fierce resistance from Netanyahu's far-right allies, on whose support the Israeli prime minister depends to remain in power.

On Thursday, Israel's extremist national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, threatened to quit the government if Israel approves the ceasefire.

Trump says deal better be finalised before inauguration

Netanyahu's confirmation comes after US President-elect Donald Trump stressed the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas better be finalised before his inauguration on Monday and said his involvement was crucial for the negotiation.

"We changed the course of it, and we changed it fast, and frankly, it better be done before I take the oath of office," he said in a podcast interview with Dan Bongino.

Trump also said "we shook hands, and we signed certain documents, but it better be done."

He claimed Biden hadn't done anything.

"I'm not looking for credit. I want to get these people out," he said. "We've got to get them out."