Israel's cabinet voted to approve a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal on Saturday, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, ending days of uncertainty about whether the truce would go into effect this weekend.

The ceasefire, set to begin Sunday, would halt fighting and bombardment in Gaza's deadliest-ever war.

It would also enable the release of hostages held in the territory since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.

A former CIA official pleaded guilty Friday to leaking top secret US intelligence documents about Israeli military plans for a retaliatory strike on Iran.

Asif Rahman, 34, who worked for the Central Intelligence Agency since 2016 and held a top secret security clearance, was arrested by the FBI in Cambodia in November.

Rahman faces up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty in a federal court in Virginia to two counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information.

Iranians and Israelis have been banned from flying to Syria, which is under new leadership since last month's overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, an airport source said.

International flights resumed at Syria's main airport in Damascus on January 7, almost a month after Islamist-led rebels ousted Assad after a lightning offensive.

Just a few airlines have since resumed or announced they will resume flights to Syria.

Thousands of Yemenis crowded the capital Sanaa Friday to express their support for the Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who say they will maintain pressure on Israel despite the imminent Gaza ceasefire.

Every week for the past 15 months, people have filled the centre of the rebel-held city on the Muslim day of prayer and rest to chant their backing for the Palestinians.

This week, with the ceasefire awaiting final Israeli cabinet approval before coming into effect on Sunday, was no different.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday condemned what he called "the poison of antisemitism rising around the world" after a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the former German Nazi concentration camp.

His visit came as many international delegations are expected to attend the January 27 ceremony commemorating 80 years since the Soviet Red Army liberated the death camp built in occupied Poland.

King Charles III will be among those attending the ceremony, Buckingham Palace said Monday, in his first visit to the former camp.

In a sprawling tent city in central Gaza, Palestinians displaced by war to other parts of the territory are all waiting for one thing: a ceasefire so they can go home.

Most of Gaza's 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once by the Israel-Hamas war to other parts of the territory.

With a long-awaited truce deal due to take effect on Sunday, they may finally be able to return to their neighbourhoods.

Chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court Karim Khan met Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on Friday, state media reported, as last month's ouster of Bashar al-Assad sparks hopes for justice.

Sharaa and Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani met "a delegation from the International Criminal Court, headed" by Khan, state news agency SANA reported, also publishing images of the meeting.

A statement from Khan's office said he "travelled to Damascus at the invitation of the Syrian Transitional Government".

The EU is prepared to redeploy a monitoring mission to the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt after a ceasefire deal to end Israel's war in the territory, the bloc's top diplomat said Friday.

"We are ready to do it," foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told journalists after meeting Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa in Brussels.

Kallas said the EU needed an invitation from the Palestinian and Israeli sides and agreement from Egypt before it could "go forward".

Yazeed al-Rajhi made history on Friday by becoming the first driver from host nation Saudi Arabia to win the Dakar Rally.

The Overdrive pilot held onto his overnight lead to beat South Africa's Henk Lategan in a Toyota by 3min 57sec with Mattias Ekstrom of Sweden third in his Ford, more than 20min adrift.

Rajhi, 43, had previously recorded a best finish of third in 2022.

Saudi Arabia have hosted the Dakar Rally since 2020, when it moved from South America.

An Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal expected to take effect on Sunday has sparked hope for life-saving aid to reach Palestinians, but aid agencies warn of obstacles from destroyed infrastructure, massive need and collapsed law and order.

Announcing the truce, United States President Joe Biden said on Wednesday it would "surge much needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians".