Hospitals and health officials have been preparing isolated areas where the hostages can begin recuperating, and there are concerns that the returning captives may be malnourished.

The ceasefire agreement, reached with Hamas, provides for the swap of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The Israeli government ratified the Gaza ceasefire and hostage return deal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said, after a cabinet meeting that lasted more than six hours and ended in the early hours of Saturday.