A ceasefire in the Gaza war will begin Sunday morning at 0630 GMT, mediator Qatar said on Saturday after Israel's cabinet voted to approve the truce and hostage-prisoner release deal.

More than 1,000 Syrian nationals have withdrawn their applications for asylum or international protection because they intend to return to their homeland, while another 500 have already gone back, a Cypriot official said Friday.

Cyprus' Deputy Minister for Migration and International Protection Nicholas Ioannides said after talks with European Migration and Home Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner that the development comes in the wake of the fall of the Assad government in Syria last month.

As Syria begins recovering from 50 years of autocratic rule by the Assad family, an international envoy says Christians and other religious groups expect their rights and freedoms to be preserved under a new constitutional settlement.

Salina Shambos, a senior Cypriot diplomat and the newly appointed special envoy for religious freedom and protection of minorities in the Middle East, said on Friday that religious leaders in Syria expressed a "strong sense of patriotism" and are now "free to hope" that their country will be more inclusive and a respected member of the international community.

The Israeli justice ministry published a list of 95 Palestinian prisoners who are to be freed starting Sunday as part of the first exchange for Israeli captives under a Gaza ceasefire deal.

"The release of prisoners is... subject to government approval of the (ceasefire) plan and will not take place before Sunday 16:00 (1400 GMT)," the ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Egypt's chief diplomat on Thursday called on Israel and Hamas to implement a Gaza ceasefire plan "without any delay," raising pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the deal.

Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty delivered the message at a sensitive time in efforts to end a devastating 15-month conflict. A day after President Joe Biden and other international mediators announced the ceasefire agreement, Netanyahu was still insisting there was no deal.

Mediators from Egypt, Qatar, the United States and Israel met in Cairo Friday to set out "mechanisms" for implementing the truce in Gaza, state-linked media reported.

Citing an informed Egyptian source, Al-Qahera News said technical meetings started in Cairo Friday "to put mechanisms for implementing the ceasefire agreement in Gaza with the participation of Egyptian, Qatari, US and Israeli teams", ahead of expected implementation of the deal on Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that a deal to return hostages held in the Gaza Strip has been reached. The announcement came a day after Netanyahu's office said there were last minute snags in talks to free hostages in return for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Netanyahu said he will convene his security Cabinet later on Friday and then the government to approve the ceasefire agreement.

Israel's security cabinet approved in a vote on Friday a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal that should take effect this weekend, the prime minister's office said.

The agreement, which must now go to the full cabinet for a final green light, would halt fighting and bombardment in Gaza's deadliest-ever war.

Iran on Thursday welcomed a ceasefire and hostage-release deal between Hamas and Israel as a "victory" for Palestinians and a "defeat" for Israel.

The leader of the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Harakat al-Nujaba, Akram al-Kaabi, announced Thursday the suspension of the group’s operations against Israel following the declaration of a Gaza ceasefire agreement but warned they could start again if there were violations of the truce.

In a statement, al-Kaabi congratulated the Palestinian people and “freedom-loving” individuals worldwide on “this important development.”