In a letter sent on Friday to the UN secretary general António Guterres, Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, again accused the agency known as UNRWA of “widespread infiltration” by Hamas militants who carried out the surprise 7 October 2023 attack in southern Israel – which UNRWA denies.

As reported by the Associated Press, Danon said he was following up on legislation passed in late October by Israel’s Knesset banning the UNRWA from operating in the “sovereign territory of Israel” and banning any contact between Israeli authorities and the UN agency. It was to take effect in 90 days.

In light of the legislation, he said: “UNRWA is required to cease its operations in Jerusalem, and evacuate all premises in which it operates in the city, no later than 30 January 2025.”

The UNRWA commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini, said in a speech in Oslo last week that its staff there “will be compelled to withdraw under protest” and “local staff will remain and continue to provide emergency assistance and, where possible, education and primary healthcare”.

He said the UNRWA would also “stay and deliver” in Gaza and the West Bank, which are occupied Palestinian territories and were not mentioned in Danon’s letter.

UNRWA has been the main agency procuring and distributing aid in Gaza, where almost the entire population of about 2 million Palestinians relies on the agency for healthcare and education.

Israel’s military said on Friday that an airstrike targeted alleged militants in a vehicle in the northern West Bank, where Israeli forces have been carrying out a major military operation during the ceasefire in Gaza, according to a report by the Associated Press.

Two Palestinians were killed in the strike, according to the health ministry. The military said the strike was in the town of Qabatiya, roughly 5km (3 miles) south of Jenin. The city has been the main focus of the Israeli operation.

In Jenin on Friday, drones buzzed overhead and the sound of gunfire and explosions rang out as Israeli military bulldozers and armoured vehicles churned through the streets.

Israeli forces have killed at least 14 Palestinians in the northern West Bank in the days since the fragile truce took hold in the Gaza Strip, according to health authorities.

Hamas said two of its members were killed in a gun battle with Israeli forces earlier this week in another town near Jenin. Suspected Jewish settlers have also rampaged through two Palestinian towns.

In the hours after the release of the names of the female hostages to be freed on Saturday, the office of Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, appeared to indicate it believed Hamas had breached the fragile ceasefire deal because the names did not include that of the remaining female civilian hostage in Gaza.

Israeli media later reported the Israeli prime minister had consulted his security chiefs and decided to move forward, believing Hamas’s decision to release female soldiers before female civilians to be a violation of the ceasefire agreement but not one serious enough to end the process entirely.

Read the full report here.

Four Israeli female soldiers are set to be freed on Saturday.

The women were taken in Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack that ignited the war and have had no contact with the outside world since then. The female abductees had all served in a unit of lookouts charged with monitoring threats along the border with Gaza.

Here is what we know about them:

• Karina Ariev, 20. On 7 October 2023, Ariev texted her family goodbye as she was being dragged into Gaza: “If I don’t live, take care of Mom and Dad all their lives. Don’t give up. Live.” Her family said she loves to cook, sing, dance and write poetry. A year ago, Hamas released a video clip showing her and Daniella Gilboa, another soldier in her unit, pleading for their release.

• Daniella Gilboa, 20. Gilboa’s name was originally Danielle, but after her abduction her parents changed it to Daniella, citing the Jewish belief that changing a name can change someone’s fortune. In videos of her kidnapping, Gilboa appears to be suffering from a foot injury as militants hustle her into a jeep bound for Gaza. Gilboa has said she dreams of becoming a professional singer.

• Naama Levy, 20. Other footage from 7 October shared all over the world shows Levy, a soldier and triathlete, wearing blood-stained grey sweatpants as she is abducted from her base. When she was younger, she participated in the US-based “Hands of Peace” delegation, which brings together Americans, Israelis and Palestinians to work on coexistence.

• Liri Albag, 19. Earlier this month, as ceasefire negotiations dragged on, Hamas’s military wing released a video that showed Albag, the youngest of the soldiers slated for release, in what her family said was “severe psychological distress”.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East, with a focus on the four female Israeli soldiers held hostage in Gaza since 2023 set to be released by Hamas on Saturday.

The exchange is the second swap agreed to under the Israel-Gaza ceasefire deal.

It’s approaching 5am in Jerusalem, and here is what you need to know:

• Palestinian militant group Hamas announced on Friday that it would release four female soldiers held hostage for 15 months in Gaza, as part of an exchange for dozens of Palestinian prisoners laid out in its ceasefire agreement with Israel. An advocacy group representing the families of hostages confirmed the identities of the captive Israelis to be released on Saturday.

• The four Israeli soldiers are Karina Ariev, 20; Daniella Gilboa, 20; Naama Levy, 20; and Liri Albag, 19. The women were taken in Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack that ignited the war and have had no contact with the outside world since then.

• The female abductees had all served in a unit of lookouts charged with monitoring threats along the border.

• In a statement, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum welcomed their expected release saying: “An entire nation has fought for them and anxiously awaits their longed-for return to their families’ embrace.”

• Not on the list, however, was Arbel Yehoud, the last female civilian hostage being held in Gaza, who Israeli officials earlier this week said they expected to be released this weekend.

• Israel believes about a third, or possibly as many as half, of the more than 90 hostages still in Gaza have died. Hamas has not, however, released definitive information on how many captives are still alive or the names of those who have died.

• In the first phase of the ceasefire deal, 33 hostages – including women, children, sick people and those over 50 – are expected to be released gradually in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Most of the 33 are civilians, but the deal also commits Hamas to freeing all living female soldiers in phase 1, which is expected to last 42 days.

• The Hamas prisoners media office said it expected 200 prisoners to be freed on Saturday as part of the deal, including 120 serving life sentences and 80 prisoners with other lengthy sentences.

• Saturday’s exchange would be the second since the ceasefire began last Sunday and Hamas released three Israeli civilians in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners.

• The ceasefire agreement, worked out after months of on-off negotiations brokered by Qatar and Egypt and backed by the United States, has halted the fighting for the first time since a truce that lasted just a week in November 2023.