After 14 months of talks, Trump’s threats and his special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, played a major role in helping Biden officials reach the finish line.

President-elect Donald Trump said mass deportations will begin “very quickly” after taking office, one of a number of plans he discussed in a phone interview with NBC News on Saturday.

Qatar, which mediated the agreement, said the cease-fire deal was set to begin at 8:30 a.m. local time on Sunday.

President-elect Donald Trump's influence over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the defining factor in reaching a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan has defended his decision to bring war crimes allegations against Israel's prime minister, saying Israel had made "no real effort" to investigate the allegations itself.

The agreement is set to halt a 15-month-old war between Israel and Hamas that has decimated the Strip, killed nearly 47,000 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis, and destabilised the Middle East.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of backing out of a cease-fire deal to release hostages and end the war in Gaza, which has raged for more than a year.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken had said the U.S. wanted a ceasefire deal in Gaza and all remaining captives released before Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

Gaza's civil defence rescuers said Israeli strikes killed eight people on Sunday after Israel said a ceasefire in its war with Hamas was delayed at the last minute on orders of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

President-elect Trump has indicated he will give the app a 90-day extension when he takes office on Monday to allow owner ByteDance more time to sell

A long-awaited ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war was delayed Sunday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the last minute that it would not take effect until the Palestinian militant group provided a list of the hostages to be released.