Israeli cabinet ratifies Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas

Israel's government ratified a ceasefire with the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Friday, clearing the way to suspend hostilities in Gaza within 24 hours and free Israeli hostages held there within 72 hours after that. The Israeli cabinet approved the deal early Friday morning, roughly 24 hours after mediators announced the agreement, which calls for the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and the start of a phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza under US President Donald Trump's initiative to end the two-year war in Gaza. "The government has just now approved the framework for the release of all of the hostages – the living and the deceased," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's English-language X account...