Tens of thousands of Palestinians headed back to the heavily destroyed northern Gaza Strip on Friday as a US-brokered ceasefire came into effect in a deal that raised hopes for ending the Israel-Hamas war. All the remaining hostages were set to be released within days.

Questions remain over who will govern Gaza as Israeli troops gradually pull back and whether Hamas will disarm, as called for in US President Donald Trump's ceasefire plan.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who unilaterally ended a ceasefire in March, hinted that Israel might renew its offensive if Hamas does not give up its weapons.

The latest truce nevertheless marks a key step toward ending a ruinous two-year war that was triggered by Hamas' 2023 attack on Israel.

The fighting has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and displaced around 90 per cent of the Gaza population of some 2 million, often multiple times.

Many of them will find fields of rubble where their homes once stood.

The military confirmed the start of the ceasefire on Friday, and the remaining 48 hostages, around 20 of them believed to be alive, are to be released by Monday.

Palestinians said heavy shelling in parts of Gaza earlier on Friday had mostly stopped after the military's announcement.

Netanyahu said in a televised statement on Friday that the next stages would see Hamas disarm and Gaza demilitarised.

"If this is achieved the easy way — so be it. If not — it will be achieved the hard way," Netanyahu said. He added that Hamas agreed to the deal "only when it felt that the sword was on its neck — and it is still on its neck."

The Israeli military has said it will continue to operate defensively from the roughly 50 per cent of Gaza it still controls after pulling back to agreed-upon lines.

Meanwhile, the United Nations was given the green light by Israel to begin delivering scaled-up aid into Gaza starting Sunday, a UN official said. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet made public.

The aid will include 170,000 metric tons that have already been positioned in neighboring countries such as Jordan and Egypt as humanitarian officials awaited permission from Israeli forces to restart their work.

In the last several months, the UN and its humanitarian partners have only been able to deliver 20 per cent of the aid needed in the Gaza Strip, according to UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher.

People on the move

A steady stream of people, the vast majority on foot, crammed onto a coastal road in the central Gaza Strip, heading north to see what might remain of their homes.

It was a repeat of emotional scenes from an earlier ceasefire in January. Others headed to other parts of the Palestinian territory in the south.

The destruction they find this time will be even greater, after Israel waged a new offensive in Gaza City, in the north, in recent weeks.

The military bombed high-rises and blew up homes in what it said was an attempt to destroy Hamas' remaining military infrastructure.

Palestinians have expressed relief that the war may end, tempered with concern about the future and lingering pain from the staggering death and destruction.

"There wasn't much joy, but the ceasefire somewhat eased the pain of death and bloodshed, and the pain of our loved ones and brothers who suffered in this war," said Jamal Mesbah, who was displaced from the north and plans to return.

In Gaza's southern city of Khan Younis, hundreds of Palestinians returning to their homes found wrecked buildings, rubble and destruction after Israeli troops withdrew.

"There was nothing left. Just a few clothes, pieces of wood and pots," said Fatma Radwan, who was displaced from Khan Younis. People were still trying to retrieve bodies from under the rubble, she added.

Many buildings were flattened, and none was undamaged, as people went back to search for their belongings.

"We came to a place that is unidentifiable. An unidentifiable town. Destruction is everywhere," said Hani Omran, who was also displaced from Khan Younis.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1200 people and taking 251 hostage.

In Israel's ensuing offensive, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and nearly 170,000 wounded, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the deaths were women and children.

The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the United Nations and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.

The war has also triggered other conflicts in the region, sparked worldwide protests and led to allegations of genocide that Israel denies.

How the agreement is expected to unfold

Israel is set to release around 2000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the remaining hostages.

A list Israel published Friday did not include high-profile prisoner Marwan Barghouti, the most popular Palestinian leader and a potentially unifying figure.

Israel views him and other high-profile prisoners as terrorists and has refused to release them in past exchanges.

Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official and lead negotiator, said on Thursday evening that all women and children held in Israeli jails will be freed.

The hostage and prisoner releases are expected to begin Monday, two Egyptian officials briefed on the talks and a Hamas official said, though another official said they could occur as early as Sunday night. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to be publicly named speaking about the negotiations.

A relative of one of the Israeli hostages believed to have died in captivity says the family is hoping that his body will be returned for burial.

"It's a measured sense of hope in all hostage families,'' said Stephen Brisley, whose sister, Lianne Sharabi, and her two teenage daughters were killed at Kibbutz Be-eri in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

Lianne's husband, Eli Sharabi, was eventually released, but his brother, Yossi, is believed to have died in an air strike in January 2024. The family hopes to give him a dignified burial.

"It's a guarded optimism because it's the kind of optimism that's born out of heartbreaking experience. We hold our hope lightly because we've had our hopes dashed before," Brisley told The Associated Press from his home in South Wales.

"It still feels like a long way between the announcement of the deal and actually getting Yossi's body back to bury him.''

As part of the deal, five border crossings are expected to reopen, including the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, Egyptian and Hamas officials said. That will allow aid to flow into the territory, parts of which are experiencing famine.

The Trump plan calls for Israel to maintain an open-ended military presence inside Gaza, along its border with Israel. An international force, comprised largely of troops from Arab and Muslim countries, would be responsible for security inside Gaza.

To help support and monitor the ceasefire deal, US officials said they would send about 200 troops to Israel as part of a broader, international team. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not authorised for release.

The US would also lead a massive internationally funded reconstruction effort.

The plan also envisions an eventual role for the Palestinian Authority — something Netanyahu has long opposed. But it requires the authority, which administers parts of the West Bank, to undergo a sweeping reform program that could take years.

The Trump plan is even more vague about a future Palestinian state, which Netanyahu firmly rejects.

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María Corina Machado, a Venezuelan opposition leader driven into hiding since a disputed election last year, has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for keeping "the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness".

Machado received the accolade for tirelessly promoting democratic rights in Venezuela and "for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy", the Norwegian Nobel Committee said on Friday, announcing the award at a ceremony in Oslo.

Born in Caracas, Venezuela's capital, in 1967, Machado trained as an industrial engineer before entering politics. In 2002, she founded Súmate, a volunteer group that promotes political rights and monitors elections.

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Machado has described her life's work as promoting "ballots over bullets". The Nobel committee lauded her as "one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times".

"Oh my god … I have no words," Machado said after being woken in the middle of the night by a phone call from the committee to tell her she had won the prize.

"This is a movement, this is an achievement of a whole society," she added.

"I am just one person. I certainly do not deserve this."

Although the White House criticised the committee for overlooking the peacemaking efforts of Donald Trump – who has long publicly coveted the prize – the US president praised Machado in January for "peacefully expressing the voices and the WILL of the Venezuelan people".

Machado's work has become more difficult over time. Freedom House, a monitoring group, says Venezuela's democratic institutions have deteriorated since 1999 and "have grown sharply worse in recent years" due to a harsh crackdown by the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

Machado attempted to run against Maduro in the 2024 presidential election, but her candidacy was voided by the regime. She then switched her support to the party of Edmundo González Urrutia, and worked to mobilise citizens and train election observers to try to ensure the vote was free and fair.

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Both Maduro and González claimed victory after the vote. When Venezuela's government-aligned electoral authorities declared Maduro the winner, with 51.95 per cent of the vote, opposition forces cried foul. Analysts reported "suspicious" data patterns in the reported results. One expert said there was about a "one in 100 million chance that this particular pattern will occur by chance".

After the election, Machado claimed she could prove that Maduro had lost "in a landslide to Edmundo, 67 per cent to 30 per cent". Writing in the Wall Street Journal, she said her group had "receipts obtained directly from more than 80 per cent of the nation's polling stations".

The Nobel committee praised Machado on Friday for making sure "the final tallies were documented before the regime could destroy the ballots and lie about the outcome". At the time, the Biden administration also concurred that there was "overwhelming evidence" that Maduro lost the vote.

After declaring victory, the Maduro government moved to crack down on dissent. Human Rights Watch, a monitoring group, said this year that the government has "killed, tortured, detained, and forcefully disappeared people seeking democratic change".

As a result, Machado has lived in hiding in Venezuela since last year, resurfacing briefly during protests in January. Speaking to CNN from an unknown location in August 2024, Machado said the regime had "lost total touch with reality and lost its social base", allowing her movement – with no resources, and operating under strict censorship – to mobilise "millions of Venezuelans" committed to democracy.

"Everyone in Venezuela is afraid of losing our freedom or even our lives," she told CNN's Christiane Amanpour. "But above all we are committed to make the truth prevail … and get a transition to democracy peacefully."

Democracy a 'precondition' for peace

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded each year to the individual or organisation which has done the most to satisfy the terms set out in the will of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish chemist whose fortune established the Nobel Prizes.

The will says the award will be given to "the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses".

Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said Machado had satisfied the full criteria.

"She has brought her country's opposition together. She has never wavered in resisting the militarisation of Venezuelan society. She has been steadfast in her support for a peaceful transition to democracy," he said Friday.

In selecting Machado as this year's laureate, the committee signaled its concerns about the health of democracy worldwide, according to Karim Haggag, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

"The Nobel Committee clearly chose to highlight democracy as a priority area, underscoring that this award comes at a time of global backsliding of democratic values and norms," Haggag told CNN.

Nina Græger, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, said Machado's award is "above all, a prize for democracy".

"Research shows that democracy is an important precondition for peace. At a moment when authoritarianism is on the rise across the world, this award highlights the courage of those who defend freedom with ballots, not bullets," she told CNN.

Analysts say the committee often uses the prize to send a message about areas of concern over the past year. The 2024 prize went to Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots Japanese organisation of atomic bomb survivors, at a time when the world was once again confronting the spectre of nuclear weapons, amid Russia's threats during its war in Ukraine.

'Politics over peace'

Friday's award came after a months-long campaign of self-promotion by Trump, who stressed repeatedly that he believed he deserved the prize for ending "unsolvable" wars during his second term.

Although Trump scored a major diplomatic victory this week in announcing the first phase of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, this likely came too late to influence the Nobel committee. Nominations for this year's prize closed on January 31, when Trump had only been in office for 11 days.

The White House nonetheless criticised the committee for snubbing Trump.

"President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars, and saving lives," said communications director Steven Cheung.

"The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace."

The prize also comes at a time of rising antagonism between the United States and Venezuela, with the US military carrying out lethal strikes on boats off the coast of Venezuela, which the Trump administration has deemed to be "narco-trafficking" vessels.

The US has also deployed at least seven warships to the southern Caribbean and announced a $US50 million ($76 million) reward for information leading to Maduro's arrest. The Venezuelan president who has faced formal drug trafficking charges from the Justice Department since 2020.

The peace prize carries a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1.7 million) and will be formally presented at a ceremony in Oslo in December.

Frydnes, the chair of the committee, could not confirm whether Machado will be able to attend.

"It's a question of security. It's too early to say. We always hope to have the laureate with us in Oslo, but this is a serious security situation which needs to be handled first," Frydnes said.

Dozens more police have been brought in to search for Dezi Freeman on the same day it emerged that only a stroke of luck allegedly prevented the accused cop-killer from shooting a fourth officer in August.

The fugitive allegedly tried to open fire on a fourth officer after a warrant was served on him at his residence in Porepunkah on August 26, but the homemade firearm jammed before a bullet could be fired, 9News understands.

The new details from the shooting, first reported by the Herald Sun, revealed that Freeman, who is accused of killing police officers Neal Thompson and Vadim De Waart-Hottart and wounding a third officer, allegedly aimed a homemade shotgun at a fourth officer and pulled the trigger.

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However, the gun did not fire and the officer was unhurt.

Freeman has not been seen since the shooting in late August in Porepunkah, in north-east Victoria, despite a huge manhunt for him ever since.

Today, police announced that 33 extra officers from the public order response team were brought up to the High Country to launch an additional sweep of the area.

A Victoria Police spokesperson also said authorities have searched "a number" of private properties in Porepunkah over the past two days as part of the manhunt.

"The search involves a number of specialist services and follows intensive searches conducted by tactical police in the area over the past seven weeks," the spokesperson said.

They added that the police presence in the area remains "significant", more than a month after the horrific shooting.

"We are committed to using every available resource and the necessary skills required to find Freeman," the spokesperson said.

Police have previously said it is believed Freeman, a so-called sovereign citizen, fled the property still heavily armed.

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Freeman's brother recently said he suspected the fugitive was dead, according to a controversial YouTube host.

Police have said they are open to that possibility and have been searching the area with cadaver dogs, but they have said Freeman could also be alive and receiving assistance from somebody in the community.

Investigators have characterised Freeman, who has links to the disparate sovereign citizen movement, as a skilled outdoorsman.

A $1 million reward for information leading to his arrest remains available, and anyone with information about his whereabouts has been urged to call triple zero.

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A man has faced court and a Sydney grandmother is fighting for life after she was allegedly punched in the head while on a walk with her six-year-old grandson.

The 71-year-old woman was on Francis Street in Strathfield about 12.10pm yesterday when police say she encountered 52-year-old John Bozic, who was walking his dog.

It will be alleged Bozic's dog took the boy's ball and the grandmother had words with him before turning to her 46-year-old son-in-law looking for assistance.

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Police allege Bozic assaulted the son-in-law before turning on the grandmother.

"Police will then allege the 52-year-old man approached the 71-year-old grandmother and with one hit has punched her in the head," Superintendent Robert Toynton said.

"The lady has then fallen to the ground and subsequently a short time later police and emergency services were called to that location."

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Bozic was arrested at a home in Strathfield at 8.30am today and taken to Auburn Police Station.

He was charged with wounding a person with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm and common assault.

He appeared in Burwood Local Court and was refused bail.

The magistrate said it appeared it was a "deliberate assault which had racial implications".

CCTV from the scene shows the little boy grabbing his ball and dragging his bike away after the alleged assault.

The six-year-old raise the alarm with his mother and she rushed to the scene.

The grandmother was rushed to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in a critical condition and underwent emergency surgery to have part of her skull removed.

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"That woman is still in a critical condition," Toynton said.

"Her condition is what I would call grave – she's very, very unwell.

"From my experience as a police officer, this is an absolutely abhorrent attack.

"It is an unprovoked attack and it absolutely sickens us that this has happened in our community.

"But what we want to assure the community of is as police we will act swiftly, we will put all of our resources into these types of offences and we will arrest people and put them before the courts as quickly as we can."

The alleged attack has sent shockwaves through the community.

"We were just disgusted obviously for something of that nature to occur," resident Julie Huynh said.

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Exclusive: The heartbroken family of the former UFC fighter killed in a brazen daylight execution in Sydney's north-west this week has opened up about his murder, saying he didn't deserve to die.

Mixed martial arts fighter Suman Mokhtarian was gunned down while walking down a street in Riverstone on Wednesday evening, with the shooters fleeing the scene in a red Audi.

While a hunt is still under way for the killers, Mokhtarian's grandmother, Ershat, spoke to 9News about the murder, saying the 33-year-old didn't deserve to die.

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"My grandchild, I love him too much, I love him too much," she said.

"(He was a) very good person, I cannot believe that … he's dead."

Mokhtarian had fought twice in the UFC from 2018-2019, losing both bouts before focusing more on coaching.

9News understands Mokhtarian had been told by police his life was in danger, and that he had survived an assassination attempt last year outside his Wentworthville gym that he co-owned with his brother.

Earlier this year, police had cancelled a mixed martial arts event in western Sydney on the basis that there was a risk Mokhtarian would be attacked.

Following his shooting, police said they were putting "a lot of resources" into tackling gangland crime in Sydney.

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Residents say the disruption could block access for ambulances and schools.

Christchurch Airport recorded 304 bird strikes last year, the most nationwide.

Police have been combing the area around the hot and cold pools on Waiotapu Loop Rd.

A 7.6-magnitude earthquake off the southern Philippines has damaged buildings, knocked out power, killed at least one person and prompted evacuations of coastal areas nearby due to a possible tsunami.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the potential damage was being assessed and rescue teams and relief operations were being prepared and would be deployed when it was safe to do so.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said it was expecting damage and aftershocks from the earthquake, which was centred at sea about 62 kilometres south-east of Manay town in Davao Oriental province and was caused by movement in the Philippine Trench at a depth of 23 kilometres.

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At least one person died after being hit by falling debris in the south, Office of Civil Defence deputy administrator Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said in a news briefing without providing details.

Several buildings sustained cracks in their walls, including an international airport in Davao city, but it remained operational without any flights being cancelled, Alejandro said.

"I was driving my car when it suddenly swayed and I saw powerlines swaying wildly. People darted out of houses and buildings as the ground shook and electricity came off," Jun Saavedra, a disaster-mitigation officer of Governor Generoso town in Davao Oriental, told The Associated Press.

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"We've had earthquakes in the past, but this was the strongest," Saavedra said, adding that the intense ground swaying caused cracks in several buildings, including schools.

At least 50 students from a high school in his town were brought to a hospital by ambulance after sustaining bruises, fainting or becoming dizzy due to the earthquake, Saavedra said.

Governor Generoso is a town about 100 kilometres south of Manay, where classes in all levels were also suspended.

Children evacuated schools in Davao City, which has about 5.4 million people and is the biggest city near the epicentre, about 250 kilometres west of Davao Oriental province.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Honolulu said small waves were detected on the coasts of the Philippines and Indonesia before the threat passed about two hours after the quake. It said small sea fluctuations may continue.

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Alejandro warned that tsunami waves could hit six nearby coastal provinces from Davao Oriental up to two hours after the earthquake struck at 9.43am (12.43pm AEDT).

"We urge these coastal communities to be on alert and immediately evacuate to higher grounds until further notice," Alejandro said in a video news briefing.

Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency said small tsunami waves were detected in North Sulawesi province with heights ranging from 3.5-17 centimetres in Melonguane, Beo, Essang and Ganalo in the Talaud Islands districts.

The Philippines is still recovering from the September 30 earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 that left at least 74 people dead and displaced thousands of people in the central province of Cebu, particularly Bogo city and outlying towns.

One of the world's most disaster-prone countries, the Philippines is often hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions because of its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of seismic faults around the ocean.

The archipelago is also lashed by about 20 typhoons and storms each year, making disaster response a major task of the government and volunteer groups.

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Wellington chef Aakash Aakash has been sent to prison for the sexual offending.