Israel’s government has ratified a Gaza ceasefire deal with Hamas, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says. 

The vote early on Friday paves the way for a suspension of hostilities in Gaza within 24 hours, and the release of 48 Israeli captives held in Gaza, including 20 believed to be alive, within 72 hours after that. 

The vote came a day after mediators announced an agreement between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire in Gaza and the exchange of captives held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. 

At least 1,000 anti-government protesters have marched in Madagascar’s capital to demand that the president resign, as police used tear gas, stun grenades, and rubber bullets to disperse the crowds. 

The demonstration on Thursday comes in the third week of the most significant unrest to hit the Indian Ocean island nation in years. 

Organized by “Gen Z Madagascar,” the protests were first sparked by frustration over water and power cuts but soon expanded to include anger over allegations of corruption and nepotism.   

At least 12 people have been killed and 17 were wounded when the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shelled a hospital in Sudan’s North Darfur state, medical sources said. 

The Sudan Doctors Network said in a statement on Wednesday that the RSF “directly bombed” the facility. It alleged the attack was a “full-fledged war crime” and showed “a complete disregard for the lives of civilians and international laws that protect health facilities and their workers”. 

Myanmar’s military carried out a paraglider strike on a village that killed at least 24 people including children, and wounded more than 50 others, according to a member of a resistance group, villagers, and media reports. 

The Monday night attack was carried out by a motorized paraglider, and targeted a village in the central Sagaing region. Celebrations of a Buddhist festival included a rally calling for the release of political prisoners held by Myanmar’s military government, the reports said. 

Pakistani security forces raided a hideout of the Pakistani Taliban near the Afghan border before dawn Wednesday, triggering a fierce gunbattle that left 11 soldiers and 19 militants dead, the military said. 

The operation took place in Orakzai district in the restive northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to a statement from the military. 

Syria’s government has declared a ceasefire between its security forces and Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Aleppo, after at least one person was killed and four people were injured in overnight violence. 

Murhaf Abu Qasra, Syria’s minister of defense, announced the ceasefire on Tuesday after meeting with Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), saying the two sides had “agreed on a comprehensive ceasefire across all fronts and military positions in northern and northeastern Syria”. 

An international ceasefire monitor says parties to South Sudan’s faltering peace agreement have recruited new fighters and abducted children to participate in a conflict that observers have warned could widen again into civil war.   

Tuesday’s statement in the capital, Juba, said South Sudan’s military in June opened a recruitment drive for 4,000 forces for peacekeeping and other purposes and that it opened a new training center in August.    

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg has arrived in Greece along with 160 other campaigners from the Global Sumud Flotilla, having been deported by Israel. 

Israel’s Foreign Ministry announced on X on Monday that it had expelled a total of 171 activists from the flotilla’s ships, which were intercepted last week while trying to bring aid to blockaded Gaza. This brings the total deported so far up to 341. 

Syria has published the results of its first parliamentary election since the government of former President Bashar al-Assad was toppled, revealing that most new members of the revamped People’s Assembly are Sunni Muslim and male.   

Electoral commission spokesperson Nawar Najmeh told a press conference on Monday that only four percent of the 119 members selected in the indirect vote were women and only two Christians were among the winners, sparking concerns about inclusivity and fairness.