Hamas and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire deal to halt the war in Gaza, aiming to end the brutal 15-month conflict. Israel will formally accept the deal after a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani made the announcement late Wednesday in the Qatari capital Doha after weeks of negotiations. Sheikh Mohammed acknowledged at a media conference that Israel has increased pressure to reach a deal with US President-elect Donald Trump, with all parties stepping up efforts to hammer out final details in recent days.

He said: "The two warring parties in the Gaza Strip have reached an agreement on the exchange of prisoners and hostages, and (the mediator) announced a ceasefire, hoping that the two sides will reach a permanent ceasefire."

"Both sides should fully comply with all three phrases (of the agreement) to avoid further bloodshed and avoid escalation in the region." Sheikh Mohammed added: "We hope this will be the end of a dark chapter in the war."

Immediately afterwards, US President Joe Biden said that his administration passed the negotiation of the agreement, but Trump's team will soon be responsible for ensuring that the agreement is implemented. Biden said incoming Middle East envoy Steve Witkopf was joined by White House Middle East adviser Brett McGurk as the Doha talks came to fruition.

"We've been speaking as a team over the past few days," Biden said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Biden and Trump separately late Wednesday to thank them for helping to reach the deal, his office said.

"The prime minister thanks President-elect Trump for his help in pushing for the release of the hostages," Netanyahu's office said in the first confirmation of the deal, adding that the two men had agreed to meet in Washington "soon." Netanyahu then spoke with Biden, the statement said.

Palestinian territory residents and authorities said Israel continued its assault on Gaza hours after a ceasefire and hostage release deal was announced, as mediators sought to quell the fighting ahead of the start of a truce on Sunday.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military and there were no reports of Hamas attacks on Israel after the ceasefire was announced.

After months of mediation between Qatar, Egypt and the United States and 15 months of bloodshed that has devastated the coastal territory and angered the Middle East, Israel and Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, reached a complex ceasefire deal on Wednesday.

The deal outlines an initial six-week ceasefire that would see Israeli forces gradually withdraw from the Gaza Strip, where tens of thousands have been killed. Hamas hostages will be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Donald Trump and Joe Biden for "moving forward" with the ceasefire, but did not make it clear whether he accepted the deal, saying he would only do so "after the final details of the agreement are finalized." Issue a formal response. In progress, completed. "

The deal is expected to be approved despite opposition from some hardliners in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government.

Palestinian civilian emergency services and residents said that while people in Gaza and Israel celebrated the deal, the Israeli military escalated attacks after it was announced.

Heavy Israeli bombardment late Wednesday, especially in Gaza City, killed 32 people, medics said. The attacks continued early Thursday and destroyed homes in Rafah in southern Gaza, Nuserat in central Gaza and northern Gaza, residents said.

In other developments:

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanks US President-elect Donald Trump and President Joe Biden for their "assistance" in advancing the ceasefire and hostage release agreement. In a series of posts on X, Netanyahu's office said he spoke to Trump tonight and thanked him for "helping Israel end the suffering of dozens of hostages and their families." Netanyahu later spoke to Biden and thanked him for his help in advancing the hostage deal.

• Israel's security cabinet will meet at 11am local time (9am GMT) on Thursday to approve the deal, local media reported. The Israeli government will vote on the deal on Thursday, with a majority of ministers expected to approve it, a government official told Reuters.

• Biden and Trump was quick to claim credit. Biden mentioned the agreement in his final address to the nation. "This plan was developed and negotiated by my team and will be implemented primarily by the incoming administration," he said. Trump said the "epic" deal could only be achieved if he achieved a "historic" election victory.

• UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk welcomes news of ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas He said it promised him "tremendous relief after so much unbearable pain and suffering."

• British Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued a statement saying news of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release agreement was "long overdue" and urged a "significant increase" in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territories. "After months of devastating bloodshed and countless lives lost, this is the belated news that the Israeli and Palestinian people have been desperately waiting for," he said.

• Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal set to begin on Sunday and last 42 days, It will see the exchange of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

• Other aspects of the deal include the return of Palestinians forcibly displaced by Israeli forces to their homes in the Gaza Strip. The agreement would also facilitate treatment for injured and sick people as a result of Israeli attacks and deploy Israeli troops along the Gaza border.

• Biden confirmed that Americans would be involved in freeing the hostages. "This deal will stop the fighting in Gaza, provide much-needed humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians, and reunite hostages who have been held captive for more than 15 months with their families," Biden said.

• Egypt is "ready to provide as much assistance as possible to the Gaza Strip," state media reported. According to Egyptian state media, coordination is underway to "open the Palestinian Rafah crossing to allow international aid to enter" Gaza.