Thousands of Gazans began heading north in the territory after the Israeli military announced that a ceasefire had come into effect on Friday.

The Israeli government said the ceasefire was to take hold within 24 hours of meetings on Thursday to approve the deal, under which the military should withdraw from Gaza.

A top official within Hamas said Israel will release nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners: 250 among those serving life sentences and 1,700 others detained since the start of the war.

The agreement, to be signed Thursday, also calls for Israel to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners as well as prompt a surge of aid into Gaza after more than two years of war started by Hamas's unprecedented October 2023 attack on Israel. 

Major General Ruphin Fortunat Dimbisoa Zafisambo is named head of government late Monday in a bid to quell anti-government unrest that has claimed 22 lives.

Indonesian religious groups and civil society organizations rallied in unity on Tuesday to show solidarity with the Palestinian struggle as the Gaza war entered its second year.

Behind closed doors and under tight security, negotiators were to speak through mediators shuttling back and forth, only weeks after Israel tried to kill Hamas's lead negotiators in a strike on Qatar.

Analysts noted that while Indonesia’s formal foreign policy remains technically unchanged, public perception has shifted due to President Prabowo Subianto’s perceived softer tone toward Israel.

Under pressure from Donald Trump to end the two-year-old war, Netanyahu is facing a backlash from ultra-nationalist allies whose opposition to the US president's Gaza proposal could force the Israeli leader into early elections.

The diplomatic push follows Hamas's positive response to Donald Trump's roadmap for an end to the fighting and the release of captives in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails, with the US leader urging both sides to "move fast".

Trump's peace proposal, backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for a halt to hostilities in the nearly two-year conflict, the release of hostages within 72 hours, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and Hamas's disarmament -- a point the Islamist group did not mention in its response.

Muhammad Husein, an Indonesian citizen participating in the Global Sumud Flotilla, is in good condition and under Jakarta’s close monitoring, the Foreign Ministry confirmed as Israel’s latest blockade of the humanitarian mission continues to spark global outrage.

The Israeli navy began intercepting the boats on Wednesday, and an Israeli official said the following day that boats with over 400 people on board had been prevented from reaching the Gaza Strip.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch said in his first public address since the unrest started that his government was willing to "engage in dialogue".

Cameras broadcasting live feeds from the boats showed armed Israeli soldiers in helmets and night vision goggles boarding the ships, while passengers huddled in life vests with their hands up.

Police shot tear gas at protesters in the center of the capital Antananarivo, where some 10,000 clashed Tuesday with police, although life had mostly returned to normal in the rest of the city by later that afternoon, according to AFP journalists on the ground.

The Israeli navy intercepted the flotilla on Wednesday after warning it against entering waters it says fall under its blockade, with Thunberg's ship among those stopped from going further.

Establishing relationships with Israel can only be done after it recognizes the independence of the State of Palestine, said the Foreign Ministry after President Prabowo Subianto appeared in a campaign to push United States President Donald Trump’s peace plan in Gaza.

In recent weeks, reports of Blair's involvement raised eyebrows among advocates due to the history of British imperialism in the region and in particular Blair's involvement in the invasion of Iraq that was premised on claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, which were proven false.

Indonesia has offered troops as part of a future Gaza force, while Pakistan has been eager to woo Trump and improve its relationship with Washington.

Organisers said on Sunday that Greek vessels had now joined their enterprise, meaning that the flotilla, which counts some 47 civilian boats, was "complete". 

Attempts to delay the return of all sanctions on Iran failed on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the UN this week.

For the research in the leading medical journal BMJ, 78 humanitarian healthcare workers mostly from Europe and North America answered survey questions describing the severity, location and cause of the wounds they saw during their stints in the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu, who has opposed a Palestinian state for decades, mocked Western support for Abbas and called the Palestinian Authority "corrupt to the core."

Although France had authorised Israeli use of its airspace, according to a French diplomatic source who spoke to AFP, flight-tracking data showed Netanyahu's aircraft instead took a southern path.

The news agency said releasing all hostages and taking steps towards addressing the worsening humanitarian crisis in the war-torn enclave were also discussed as priorities at the meeting. 

In his statement at the United Nations’ summit on Palestine, President Prabowo Subianto declared Indonesia’s readiness to recognize Israel once it “recognizes the independence of the statehood of Palestine”.

The president is due to recognize a Palestinian state in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, following up on a pledge he made in the summer that angered Israel.

Foreign Minister Sugiono kicked off this week’s whirlwind of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meetings in the United States by calling on member states to step up protections for humanitarian workers, co-hosting the launch of a related declaration while spotlighting the plight of aid personnel in Gaza.

Israel has come under huge international pressure over its war in Gaza, which has sparked a dire humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory.