Israel-Hamas ink deal for hostage release and ceasefire agreement

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the country officially signed a deal with Hamas to release hostages being held in Gaza and start a ceasefire. 

Negotiators in Doha inked the pact, hours after the Israeli Prime Minister said that a last-minute dispute with Hamas was holding up Israel's approval of the ceasefire agreement.

In a statement, Netanyahu announced that he would convene his security cabinet later in the day and then the government would approve the ceasefire deal. The deal aims to pause the fighting in Gaza and release dozens of Israeli hostages.

Netanyahu’s office in a statement, as per the Times of Israel, said, "The State of Israel is committed to achieving all the goals of the war, including the return of all our hostages -- both the living and the dead."

In his statement, Netanyahu said he had instructed a special task force to prepare to receive the hostages returning from Gaza, and that their families had been informed the deal had been reached.

Amid the ongoing negotiations on Thursday, the Israeli airstrikes killed at least 72 people in war-ravaged Gaza.

The deal announced by the Israeli PM would pause the fighting in Gaza, pausing a 15-month war that has destabilized the Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.

Hamas triggered the war with its October 7, 2023, cross-border attack into Israel that killed some 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage.