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What we know about the Gaza ceasefire deal What we know about the Gaza ceasefire deal
(4 days later)
Almost all Gaza's population has been displaced by the war Hostages are being released in exchange for a larger number of prisoners in Israel
Israel's government has approved a deal with Hamas for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has begun after 15 months of war.
It is the most significant breakthrough in 15 months of war, which began when the armed Palestinian group attacked Israel on 7 October 2023. The deal aims to bring a permanent end to the fighting and will see hostages held by Hamas in Gaza exchanged for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
While the ceasefire was due to begin at 08:30 local time (06:30 GMT) on Sunday, it was delayed until 11:15 after Israel said Hamas had not handed over the names of the first 33 hostages due to be released in the deal's first phase. About 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken back to Gaza as hostages, when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023.
What is in the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas? This triggered a massive Israeli military offensive in Gaza, which has killed almost 47,000 Palestinians, the Hamas-run health ministry says.
A broad outline of the deal was announced on Wednesday by Qatar, which brokered the deal along with the United States and Egypt. However, the full details of what was agreed by Israeli and Hamas negotiators have not yet been officially announced. How does the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas work?
US President Joe Biden has said the deal would "halt the fighting in Gaza, surge much needed-humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite the hostages with their families after more than 15 months in captivity". The ceasefire was announced on 15 January, after months of negotiations led by the US, Qatar and Egypt. It is based on a proposal set out by former US President Joe Biden in May 2024. The deal will be carried out in three stages:
Hamas seized 251 hostages when it attacked Israel in October 2023. It is still holding 94 captive, although Israel believes that only 60 are still alive. Stage one
Egypt's foreign ministry said 1,890 Palestinian prisoners were expected to be released by Israel in the first stage of the ceasefire. This will last 42 days, during which:
Follow the latest updates here There will be a complete ceasefire
Hamas will release a total of 33 hostages - women (including female soldiers), children, some older men and the sick - at regular intervals
Israel will release about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners
Israeli forces will leave populated areas
Palestinian civilians will be allowed to return to their neighbourhoods
Hundreds of aid lorries will be allowed into Gaza each day
Israeli troops will remain in Gaza's border areas, including the southern Philadelphi Corridor, but will leave the Netzarim Corridor, a military zone cutting off the north of Gaza
Stage two
Sixteen days after the start of stage one, negotiations will begin on the second stage, during which:
A permanent ceasefire will be established
Remaining living hostages in Gaza will be exchanged for more Palestinian prisoners
Israeli forces will make a complete withdrawal
Stage three
The final part of the agreement will see:
The return of all remaining bodies of dead hostages
The reconstruction of Gaza, which is expected to take years
How will hostages held by Hamas be released?
The deal includes the release of the remaining 94 hostages. Fifty-nine are assumed by Israel to be alive and 35 dead.
The first three hostages - Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari, who is also a British citizen - were freed on 19 January, the first day of the ceasefire. The way in which the transfer was handled is likely to be similar for further releases.
The hostages were brought in a Hamas vehicle to Saraya Square in Gaza City. They were moved, amid chaotic scenes, to a Red Cross vehicle just metres away.
BBC Verify: What we can tell from Hamas hostage handover video
They were then taken to Israeli special forces at a point inside Gaza, about 5km (3 miles) away.
Next, the hostages were transferred to Reim military base inside Israel, on the border with Gaza.
It was there that they were reunited with their families, before being flown to Sheba hospital in central Israel for specialist treatment.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has set up three facilities - at Reim, and at the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossing points with Gaza to receive released hostages.
The next hostage-prisoner exchange is meant to take place on 25 January.
Who are the released and rescued hostages?Who are the released and rescued hostages?
What we know about the Gaza ceasefire deal
How historic deal was sealed with 10 minutes to spareHow historic deal was sealed with 10 minutes to spare
WATCH: Mixed feelings in Israel about deal with Hamas Who are the Palestinian prisoners being freed by Israel?
How will the ceasefire work? Around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Gaza are due to be released in the first phase of the deal. It is not known exactly how many prisoners will be exchanged each time hostages are released.
Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani said Israel and Hamas agreed to a three-stage agreement that will come into effect on Sunday. Ninety Palestinians – mostly women and some teenagers (the youngest aged 15, who had been convicted of shooting and wounding two people) being held over less serious offenses - were freed in return for the three hostages on the first day of the ceasefire
Here is what is understood to be in the deal. Further releases during stage one of the deal will include some accused or convicted of more serious crimes including organising suicide bombings in which dozens were killed.
First stage Notable figures set to be released during the first stage of the deal include Zakaria Zubeidi, who broke out of a high-security jail in Israel in 2021; Mohammad Abu Warda, sentenced to 48 life terms for two bus bombings in 1996; and Mohammed Halabi, the head of World Vision's Gaza office, jailed for 12 years in 2022 for diverting funds to Hamas.
The first stage would last 42 days, or six weeks, and see "a full and complete ceasefire", US President Joe Biden said as he confirmed a deal had been reached on Wednesday. Israel has insisted that no-one who was involved in the 7 October attacks will be freed.
Sheikh Mohammed said Hamas would release 33 Israeli hostages, including "civilian women, female soldiers, children, the elderly, and sick and wounded civilians". Prisoners will be returned to the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, and some will be deported
In exchange, he added, "a number" of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails would be released. On 19 January, the 90 prisoners were taken from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank to Beitunia checkpoint near Ramallah, where they were released. They then returned to their homes in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer previously said most but not all of the 33 hostages - which include children - were thought to still be alive. Some prisoners freed in future releases will be returned to their homes in the Gaza Strip and more than 200 - considered particularly dangerous - will be deported.
Three hostages would be released on the first day, a Palestinian official previously told the BBC, with the rest of the exchange taking place at regular intervals over the six weeks. The prisoners are among more than 10,000 Palestinians held by Israel (not including detainees from Gaza held by the IDF) who have either been convicted, or are suspected of "security" offences.
During this first stage, Israeli troops will pull out of "all" populated areas of Gaza, Biden said, while "the Palestinians [could] also return to their neighbourhoods in all the areas of Gaza". These range from bombings and other attacks, to belonging to banned armed groups.
A senior Palestinian official involved in the negotiations in Doha told the BBC that under the terms of the agreement, Hamas police in their official blue uniforms will manage the movement of displaced individuals from southern Gaza to the north while avoiding proximity to Israeli forces. More than 3,000 are reported to be held without charge, known as administrative detention, a practice which has been widely criticised by rights groups.
It was also agreed that personnel would only carry weapons when absolutely necessary. Freed Palestinian prisoner welcomes ceasefire deal
Almost all of Gaza's 2.3 million people have had to leave their homes as Israel has carried out continuous strikes across the territory and issued mass evacuation orders for large residential areas. How will aid be delivered to Gaza and can people return home?
There will also be a surge in humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza, with hundreds of lorries allowed in each day, as well as the rehabilitation of hospitals, clinics and bakeries, Sheikh Mohammed said. Under the deal, 600 lorries of aid - 50 carrying fuel - are to be allowed into Gaza every day. This number was met or exceeded on the first three days of the ceasefire.
The Palestinian official previously said detailed negotiations for the second and third stages would begin on the 16th day of the ceasefire. Half of them will go to the north of Gaza, where aid has been hardest to deliver and food security experts have been warning of imminent famine for months in areas that were besieged by Israeli forces.
Biden said the ceasefire would persist "as long as the negotiations continue". By comparison, about 360 lorries, excluding fuel deliveries, collected aid for delivery in Gaza in the week before the ceasefire, UN agencies said.
Second stage About 500 lorries were allowed into the territory every day before the start of the war.
Stage two would be "a permanent end to the war", according to Biden. Gaza is home to an estimated 2.3 million Palestinians, almost all of whom have had to leave their homes as Israel has carried out continuous strikes across the territory and issued mass evacuation orders for large residential areas.
The remaining living hostages, including men, would be released in return for more Palestinian prisoners. Some have begun returning home, but in many cases there is nothing to go back to, with whole streets and neighbourhoods standing in ruin.
Of the 1,000 Palestinian prisoners Israel is thought to have agreed to release overall, about 190 are serving sentences of 15 years or more. Some 60%-70% of buildings are estimated to have been damaged or destroyed.
An Israeli official previously told the BBC that those convicted of murder would not be released into the occupied West Bank. The process is also fraught with danger, with Israeli and Hamas forces at tense standoff, risks of unexploded ordnance, and warnings from the IDF to civilians to stay clear of military positions.
There would also be a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Hundreds of thousands of people who were forced by Israel to leave the north will only be able to go back via specific routes from the seventh day of the ceasefire.
Third stage Rebuilding Gaza will be a monumental task. Halfway through the war, the UN estimated that at that point reconstruction could cost $40bn (£33bn) - something which is likely to take years, if not decades.
The third and final stage involves the reconstruction of Gaza - something which could take years - and the return of any remaining hostages' bodies. The human cost of the conflict will also be felt for many years to come, with tens of thousands wounded and left with complex psychological damage.
Hamas is still holding dozens of hostages, seized in its attack on Israel in October 2023
What are the unanswered questions about the deal?
Getting to this point has taken months of painstaking indirect negotiations - not least because Israel and Hamas completely distrust each other.
Hamas wanted a complete end to the war before it would release the hostages, something which was unacceptable to Israel.
The ceasefire deal will in effect pause the war while its terms are carried out.
However, it is unclear whether it will mean the war is over for good.
One of Israel's key war aims was to destroy Hamas's military and governing capabilities. Although Israel has severely damaged it, Hamas still has some capacity to operate and regroup.
It is also unclear which hostages are alive or dead, or whether Hamas knows the whereabouts of all those who remain unaccounted for.
For its part, Hamas has demanded the release of some prisoners which Israel says it will not free. This is believed to include those who were involved in the 7 October attacks.
It is not clear how many hostages and prisoners will be exchanged on any given day of the ceasefire, given the complex nature of the ratio agreed under the deal.
It is also not known whether Israel will agree to pull out of the buffer zone between it and Gaza by a certain date, or whether its presence there will be open-ended.
Any ceasefire is likely to be fragile.
Ceasefires between Israel and Hamas which have halted previous wars have been shaken by skirmishes and eventually broken down.
The timetable and complexity of this ceasefire means even a small incident could turn into a major threat.
What happened on 7 October 2023 and what has happened in Gaza?
Hundreds of Hamas-led gunmen launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel, bursting through the border fence and targeting communities, police stations and army bases.
About 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 hostages were taken back to Gaza. Hamas also fired thousands of rockets into Israel.
Israel responded with a massive military campaign, first by air and then a ground invasion. Since, Israel has attacked targets across Gaza by land, sea and air, while Hamas has attacked Israel with rockets.
Israel's offensive has devastated Gaza and led to severe food shortages, with aid struggling to reach those most in need. More than 46,700 people - the majority of them civilians - have been killed by Israel's attacks, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.