The Israeli justice ministry published a list of 95 Palestinian prisoners who are to be freed starting Sunday as part of the first exchange for Israeli captives under a Gaza ceasefire deal.

"The release of prisoners is... subject to government approval of the (ceasefire) plan and will not take place before Sunday 16:00 (1400 GMT)," the ministry said in a statement on Friday.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday called for accelerated implementation of a November ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah in south Lebanon.

"There have been results... but they must be accelerated and long-lasting. There needs to be complete withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the Lebanese army must hold total monopoly of any weapons" in south Lebanon, he said at a joint press conference with his Lebanese counterpart Joseph Aoun, ahead of a January 26 deadline for the truce implementation.

Mediators from Egypt, Qatar, the United States and Israel met in Cairo Friday to set out "mechanisms" for implementing the truce in Gaza, state-linked media reported.

Citing an informed Egyptian source, Al-Qahera News said technical meetings started in Cairo Friday "to put mechanisms for implementing the ceasefire agreement in Gaza with the participation of Egyptian, Qatari, US and Israeli teams", ahead of expected implementation of the deal on Sunday.

Lebanese judge Tarek Bitar resumed his investigation into the deadly 2020 Beirut port blast on Thursday, charging 10 people including security, customs and military personnel, a judicial official said.

The fresh charges come after a two-year hiatus in the investigation into the August 4, 2020 explosion that killed more than 220 people, injured thousands and devastated swathes of Lebanon's capital.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Friday urged an end to Israel's "continued occupation" and "military operations" in south Lebanon, after a November ceasefire to end fighting between Israel and militant group Hezbollah.

"The continued occupation by the Israel (military) inside the UNIFIL area operations and the conduct of military operations in Lebanese territory are violations of resolution 1701... They must stop," he told members of the U.N. peacekeeping force as he visited them, referring to the U.N. Security Council decision that ended a 2006 war between both sides.

A Russian strike on the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rig in the center of the country on Friday killed three people and wounded others, the regional governor said.

"Three people were killed by the Russian army when it struck Kryvyi Rig," the governor of the wider Dnipropetrovsk region, Sergiy Lysak, wrote on Telegram, adding that others had been wounded.

France's President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have given "their full support" to the formation of a "strong government" in Lebanon, the French presidency said.

The new government must "bring together Lebanon's diverse people, ensure the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon is respected and carry out the reforms necessary for the prosperity, stability and sovereignty of the country", the presidency said Thursday.

The UN Security Council has called for Lebanese leaders to rapidly form a new government, describing it as a "critical" step for stability in the war-battered country and region.

In a statement adopted unanimously, the Council welcomed the January 9 election of President Joseph Aoun, who filled a role that was vacant for over two years, and the nomination of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, urging the new Lebanese leaders to continue to "work constructively to promote the country's stability" and "swiftly" form a government.

France's President Emmanuel Macron was in Lebanon on Friday, where he was due to meet his newly-elected counterpart and offer support to leaders seeking to open a new chapter in their country's turbulent history.

After more than two years of a political vacuum at the top, Joseph Aoun was elected president on January 9 and chose Nawaf Salam as prime minister-designate.

UK patients are "coming to harm" with hospitals so overwhelmed people are dying in corridors awaiting treatment amid a "collapse in care standards", a report said Thursday.

In the latest indictment of Britain's beleaguered state-funded National Health Service, nine in 10 NHS nurses surveyed by the country's nurses union said "patient safety is being compromised".