Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted a truce deal with Hamas, leading to a significant development in the ongoing conflict. As part of the agreement, Hezbollah fighters will be released from Israeli custody,

The Israeli prime minister has to navigate complicated domestic politics with his aim of destroying Hamas and the need to keep the US on side.

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

Sunday’s delayed start to the truce was a minor problem compared with the difficult choices and American leverage needed to get both parties to the second phase, which could end the war.

In a speech as Israel awaited the release of the first hostages on Saturday, Mr Netanyahu said both president Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the president-elect, had promised him Israel had the right to resume the fighting “in new ways and with very great power” if Hamas violated the deal.

For the Islamist militant group, armed struggle now looks like a dead end. Its future in Gaza depends on the civilian politburo.

The problem for Netanyahu is Netanyahu. Consumed by the desire to stay in power, he has been wedged between overwhelming public demand for the hostages to be released, and those who keep him in power—his coalition partners.

Gvir, claimed to have scuppered similar agreements over the past year. But, the prime minister has blamed Hamas for the failures.

Netanyahu ‘is nothing if not obsessive, and he's still trying to get us to fight Iran this day, this week,’ Columbia professor Jeffrey Sachs says in lecture - Anadolu Ajansı

The Israeli government approved Friday a ceasefire deal to end fighting in Gaza, paving the way for a six-week ceasefire and the release of dozens of hostages held by Hamas 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.