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Hundreds of thousands of people have held a rally in Tel Aviv, ahead of the expected release of Israeli hostages by Hamas, BBC reported.

Addressing the crowds, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said the hostages "are coming home" and praised Donald Trump for making a Gaza ceasefire and hostage return deal possible.

In Gaza, Palestinian officials said about 500,000 people had returned to northern Gaza - which lies in ruins - in the past two days, following the withdrawal of Israeli troops.

Meanwhile Egypt confirmed it would host a summit on Monday to finalise an agreement aimed at ending the war, according to BBC.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, AFP reported.

She won "for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuelaand for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said in its citation.

The committee chose to focus on Venezuela at this time, in a year dominated by US President Donald Trump's repeated public statements that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, according to AFP.

The Trump administration on Thursday proposed banning Chinese airlines from flying over Russia on routes to and from the United States, saying the reduced flight time this practice enables puts American carriers at a disadvantage, Reuters reported.

The proposal is another escalation of the trade war between the world's two largest economies and was announced after Beijing on Thursday tightened controls for rare earths exports crucial for some U.S. industries.

U.S. airlines have long criticized the decision to allow Chinese carriers to use Russian airspace on U.S. routes because it gives them the advantage of decreased flying time and burns less fuel, lowering costs, according to Reuters.

Japan's Komeito party on Friday said it would quit its coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) throwing the LDP's grip on power into uncertainty as new leader Sanae Takaichi awaits a parliamentary vote to confirm her as prime minister, Reuters reported.

Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito told party members that the 26-year partnership had broken down over an "inadequate" explanation by the LDP of its handling of a political funding scandal that has roiled the ruling group.

He said Komeito would not back Takaichi in the parliamentary vote expected later this month, according to Reuters.