Gaza’s Health Ministry said Israeli tank fire killed two Palestinians near the southern border town of Rafah, days after a ceasefire in the war-battered territory took hold. The ministry said on Thursday that Israeli shelling hit the Tel al-Sultan district west of Rafah,

The Israeli army has killed nearly 20,000 fighters from Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, reported General Herzi Halevi, Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces.

Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and militants, reported Thursday that at least 120 dead bodies had been recovered and registered at hospitals across the Gaza Strip. The overall Palestinian death toll in Gaza exceeds 47,000 people, according to the Health Ministry.

Israel and Hamas have reached a deal to halt the fighting in the Gaza Strip and free more than a third of the Israeli hostages, who have had to endure more than 15 months of captivity, officials

As the cease-fire deal is underway between Israel and Hamas terrorists, some military and political commentators in Israel are worried that the deal will enable the Iran-backed terror group to rearm.

Palestinians celebrated on the streets of Gaza as guns fell silent. Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv’s “Hostages Square” to watch news of the returnees.

Qatar’s foreign ministry said the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will go into effect at 0630 GMT on Sunday.

The Biden administration called for a final push before the president leaves office, with many seeing the Trump inauguration as an unofficial deadline.

The U.S.-proposed Gaza ceasefire deal, as presented, would result in a six-week ceasefire along, a limited exchange of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and a surge in humanitarian aid to the war-torn Palestinian territory in the first phase.

Though the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will mean an end to the fighting, the devastating consequences of the war will drag on for years in both Gaza and Israel.

The Palestinian government is prepared to manage Gaza and the West Bank, seeking EU and Egypt's collaboration for humanitarian aid and security.

Families and supporters of the Israeli hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas attend a demonstration in support of ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, the day before it goes into effect, in Tel Aviv, Israel, January 18, 2025. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun