Ceasefire between Hamas and Israel to begin on Sunday morning

The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will go into effect at 6.30GMT on Sunday, Qatar’s foreign ministry has said.

Early on Saturday morning Israel’s Cabinet approved the deal for a ceasefire in Gaza that would release dozens of hostages and pause the 15-month war with Hamas, bringing the sides a step closer to ending their deadliest and most destructive fighting ever.

Hostages

Under the deal, 33 hostages are set to be released over the next six weeks, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

The remainder, including male soldiers, are to be released in a second phase that will be negotiated during the first.

Hamas has said it will not release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal.

Hamas has agreed to free three female hostages on day one 1 of the deal, four on day seven and the remaining 26 over the following five weeks.

Palestinian prisoners will be released as well.

All prisoners on the list for the first phase are younger or female.