Middle East latest: Ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will go into effect at 0630 GMT on Sunday

Brokered by mediators the United States, Qatar and Egypt in months of indirect talks between the warring sides, the ceasefire is the second truce achieved in the devastating conflict.

Israel's war against Hamas has killed over 46,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It does not say how many of the dead were militants. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.

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Here's the latest:

UN Chief pledges international support as Lebanon rebuilds

BEIRUT — António Guterres said the international community will back Lebanon “for what we believe will be a speedy recovery of this country, making it again the center of the Middle East.”

The U.N. Secretary-General met on Saturday in Beirut with Lebanon’s newly elected president Joseph Aoun.

Lebanon had been without a president for 26 months, part of internal divisions in the small nation.

Guterres said that naming a president and prime minister makes it possible to consolidate the Lebanese institutions and to deploy the Lebanese army across the country, including areas from where Israeli troops will withdraw.

“As soon as the conflict ends, reconstruction begins,” Guterres said.

The U.S.-brokered 60-day ceasefire is an attempt to end the Israel-Hezbollah war that has killed more than 4,000 people and wounded over 16,000 in Lebanon.

Part of the deal is that Hezbollah will pull out from the border area with Israel and only Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers can have armed presence along the Israeli border.

Aoun’s office issued a statement saying that the president told the U.N. chief that Lebanon insisted on Israel's withdrawal from the country's south before the ceasefire expired.

Lebanese leaders also asked Guterres to help repatriate Syrian refugees back to their country after a new authority took over power in the war-torn country.

A country of about 6 million people, Lebanon hosts nearly 780,000 registered Syrian refugees and hundreds of thousands who are unregistered — the world’s highest refugee population per capita.

The U.N. chief later held talks with Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam.

Salam said he told Guterres a discussion with the U.N. was needed “for a safe and dignified return of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon.”

On Dec. 8, Syrian opposition fighters captured the capital of Damascus ending the Assad family’s 54-year rule.

Syria’s conflict that started in March 2011 has killed half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million.

Hezbollah leader praises ceasefire deal

BEIRUT — Naim Kassem said the Palestinian people's sacrifices aborted Israel’s attempts to erase “the Palestinian cause.”

In comments aired on the Lebanese militant group's Al-Manar TV, he also said Lebanon's government has to firmly prevent Israeli violations of the U.S.-brokered 60-day truce aiming to end the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war.

Kassem said Israel violated the truce hundreds of times since it went into effect on Nov. 27, warning that Hezbollah’s patience “should not be tested.”

Meanwhile, Hezbollah's opponents in Lebanon have been calling for the disarmament of the group saying only Lebanese state institutions should have weapons.

Kassem said the group’s weapons should be part of a national defense strategy that is discussed in a national dialogue and warned that no Lebanese side should try to take advantage of the Israel war to make gains internally.

Qatar says ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will go into effect at 0630 GMT on Sunday

Under the deal, 33 hostages are set to be released over the next six weeks, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

The remainder, including male soldiers, are to be released in a second phase that will be negotiated during the first. Hamas has said it will not release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal.

Hamas has agreed to free three female hostages on Day 1 of the deal, four on Day 7 and the remaining 26 over the following five weeks.

Israel publishes list of more than 700 Palestinian prisoners to be released under the ceasefire deal

JERUSALEM — Israel’s Justice Ministry has published a list of over 700 Palestinian prisoners who are to be released under the ceasefire deal pausing the war with Hamas militants in Gaza.

The list came just hours after Israel’s full Cabinet approved the ceasefire deal.

The Justice Ministry said the Palestinian prisoners would be released no earlier than 4 p.m. local time on Sunday, the day the exchange is set to begin. The list includes members of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant groups, some of whom are serving lifetime sentences and are convicted of serious offenses such as murder.

The list did not appear to include Marwan Barghouti, the 64-year-old who is the highest-profile prisoner held by Israel and seen by many Palestinians as a prime candidate to become their president in the future. He was a leader in the West Bank during the second Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s.

Hamas has demanded that Israel release him as part of any ceasefire agreement, a possibility Israeli officials have ruled out.

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