Thousands of jubilant Israelis gathered in a Tel Aviv square Thursday, hopeful for the return of hostages held in Gaza, after two years of fear and worry.

Many wore stickers reading "They're coming back", waving Israeli and US flags and clutching photos of the hostages after Israel and Hamas reached a hostage release and truce deal in a major step towards ending the war.

A group of beaming Israelis sang, clapped and jumped in a circle in Hostages Square, which has been the scene of weekly rallies calling for the captives' return.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Friday that the government had "approved the framework" of a hostage release deal with Hamas, as both sides edged closer to ending more than two years of hostilities in Gaza.

Israel previously said "all parties" had signed the first phase of a ceasefire agreement, adding that Hamas freeing the captives would "bring the end to this war".

The accord in Egypt follows a 20-point peace plan for Gaza announced last month by US President Donald Trump, who said he planned to leave on Sunday for the Middle East.

By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA (Reuters) -The Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the largest independent aid groups working in Gaza, said President Donald Trump's plan to increase aid to starving people as part of a ceasefire will fail unless all aid groups can resume operations.

"The desperation is deeper and the exhaustion is greater than anyone can imagine inside Gaza...It's not enough with some U.N. agencies and some few NGOs," Jan Egeland, NRC head, told Reuters in an interview via video link from Oslo.

MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Kremlin on Thursday welcomed a Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas but said the key would be to see how the deal was implemented.

Israel and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza, a ceasefire and hostage release deal that could be a first step toward ending a two-year-old war that has roiled the Middle East.

By John O'Donnell and Padraic Halpin

DUBLIN (Reuters) -The frontrunner to become Ireland's next president has criticised the government for inaction on a planned law to impose sanctions on Israeli settlements in protest over Israel's military campaign in Gaza.

Catherine Connolly, an independent leftwing lawmaker backed by the main opposition Sinn Fein party, urged Dublin not to buckle to pressure from big U.S. companies by watering down the law and stopping just a trickle of trade in goods, not services.

ANKARA (Reuters) -President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday he was very pleased that Hamas-Israel negotiations had resulted in a Gaza ceasefire deal, adding that Turkey would closely monitor its strict implementation and continue to contribute to the process.

Turkey, which participated in the ceasefire negotiations in Egypt, has been one of the harshest critics of Israel's assault on Gaza, calling it a genocide. It has halted all trade with Israel, repeatedly called for international measures against its government, and demanded a two-state solution.

Palestinians in Gaza clapped, cheered and danced in the pre-dawn darkness on Thursday, after Israel and Hamas agreed a ceasefire and hostage release deal in a major step towards ending the devastating two-year war in the territory.

Around a dozen young men shouted joyful chants of "Allahu akbar", meaning God is the greatest, outside Khan Yunis's Nasser Hospital, as one man lifted another onto his shoulders.

A man wearing a journalist's press vest could also be seen carried above the crowd.

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza/TEL AVIV (Reuters) -Palestinians and the families of Israeli hostages broke into wild celebrations on Thursday after news of a pact between Israel and Hamas to end the war in Gaza and return home all the Israeli hostages, both living and dead.

In Gaza, where most of the more than 2 million people have been displaced by Israeli bombing, young men applauded in the devastated streets, even as Israeli strikes continued in some parts of the enclave.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Afghanistan's Taliban foreign minister arrived in India on Thursday for talks aiming to foster economic ties with New Delhi in the first such visit by a leader of the Islamist group since it seized power in 2021.

The six-day trip by Amir Khan Muttaqi highlights the Taliban's efforts to spur engagement with regional powers to secure eventual diplomatic recognition.

He is set to meet Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and other officials to discuss a range of political, economic and trade matters.

MUMBAI (Reuters) -British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he welcomed the agreement on the first stage of U.S. President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza, urging that it must be implemented in full without delay.

Israel and Hamas said they had agreed to a long-awaited ceasefire and hostage deal, the first phase of Trump's plan to end a war in Gaza that has killed more than 67,000 people and reshaped the Middle East.

"I welcome the news that a deal has been reached on the first stage of President Trump's peace plan for Gaza," Starmer said in a statement.