A disagreement between Israel and Palestinian militant outfit Hamas has put the Gaza ceasefire to a fresh test as the former has alleged two violations of the truce deal by the latter.Israel said on Sunday that Hamas had violated a ceasefire agreement,

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced that Israel's negotiating team had finalized a deal on the release of hostages held in Gaza.

Israeli government approves ceasefire agreement. Ceasefire to begin in Gaza Sunday morning, hostages to be released in the afternoon.

Netanyahu's office said Thursday his Cabinet won't meet to approve the Gaza ceasefire deal until Hamas backs down from what it called a "last minute crisis."

The cease-fire-for-hostage deal is scheduled to go into effect at 8:30 a.m. local time Sunday, Qatari officials announced earlier Saturday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday a deal to return hostages held in the Gaza Strip has been reached, after his office had said earlier there were last minute snags in finalizing a ceasefire that would pause 15 months of war.

Envoy Steve Witkoff, carrying a message from Donald Trump, broke through the impasse in long-futile cease-fire talks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said early Sunday that the ceasefire in Gaza will not begin until Israel has received a list of the hostages set to be released from Hamas.

Applause and cheers filled a Tel Aviv square on Saturday (Jan 25) as Gaza militants released four Israeli hostages, followed by celebrations in the occupied West Bank when Israel freed 200 Palestinian prisoners in exchange.

It was not yet clear if the Israeli prime minister's statements merely reflected jockeying to keep his fractious coalition together or whether the cease-fire was at risk.