What to know about the Israel-Hamas ceasefire dealpublished at 07:32 Greenwich Mean Time
After 15 months of war in Gaza, Israel and Hamas reached an agreement to end the fighting in the region on 15 January. Four days later, the first three hostages and 90 Palestinian prisoners were released, marking the beginning of the ceasefire.
The deal is split into three phases.
The first phase will see 33 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza exchanged for around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners that are in Israeli jails – this process is expected to last roughly six weeks.
Phase two – which will take place 16 days after the start of phase one – should then see the remaining hostages released, and a full withdrawal of Israeli troops.
The third and final stage will involve the return of the bodies of any remaining hostages that died in captivity, and the reconstruction of Gaza, which is expected to take years.
More than 46,870 people have been killed in Gaza since the Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas after the 7 October attack, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Around 1,200 people were killed during the attack, and 251 were taken hostage.
Most of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have been displaced. Some have started to return their neighbourhoods, but much of the strip has been destroyed by Israel’s military campaign.