Latest news and live updates on the Gaza ceasefire deal as four female hostages are set to be released. The hostages are all Israeli soldiers.

The Trump administration says more time is needed beyond next week’s scheduled end to the U.S.-backed cease-fire to halt the threat from Hezbollah.

Israel said its forces will remain in southern Lebanon after UN and Lebanese forces moved too slowly under the truce with Hezbollah established in November, which remains unfulfilled.

The Israeli security cabinet authorized the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) late Thursday to remain in some areas of southern Lebanon past the 60-day withdrawal deadl

Israel will not completely leave Lebanese territory by the end of the 60-day truce with Hezbollah, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Friday. The agreement, signed by both Israel and the Lebanese government, ended over a year of border clashes and two months of full-blown conflict on 27 November.

Israeli forces will remain in southern Lebanon beyond a 60-day deadline stipulated in a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah because its terms have not been fully implemented, the Israeli prime minister's office said on Friday.

Israel says it will not complete the withdrawal of its troops from southern Lebanon by Sunday, the deadline that was agreed on in a deal to end fighting with the Shia Muslim group Hezbollah.

Lebanon’s prime minister-designate has vowed to rebuild the country following years of economic meltdown and a 14-month war between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group

Hamas militants have released four female Israeli soldiers they held captive for 15 months in a planned exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners or detainees in Israel

The Lebanese army on Saturday said it was ready to deploy its forces in the country's south, accusing Israel of "procrastination" in its withdrawal in time for a deadline the following day. Under the terms of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire that came into effect on November 27,

"The outline for the ceasefire in Lebanon stipulates that the IDF's phased withdrawal should be implemented within 60 days. The clause was worded this way with the understanding that the withdrawal process may continue beyond 60 days," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement Friday.