Image source, EPA

As we’ve been reporting throughout the day, Gazans are continuing to return to devastated homes and neighbourhoods on the second day of the ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.

Meanwhile in Israel, the families of those kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October 2023 have urged for the remaining hostages in Gaza to be released during a news conference earlier today.

As we bring this live page to a close, here are the latest developments in the region:

• The mother of Emily Damari, an British-Israeli citizen who was kidnapped by Hamas during the 7 October attacks, has said her daughter is in “high spirits” and “on the road to recovery”

• Damari is one of three hostages - including Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher – who were released by Hamas yesterday

• This comes as 90 Palestinians were released from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank, including Khalida Jarrar, leader of the political group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

• A total of 33 hostages are expected to be freed by Hamas during the first six-week phase of the ceasefire and Israel is set to release some 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees

• Around 630 trucks carrying crucial aid have entered Gaza since the beginning of the ceasefire, UN chief António Guterres has said

• Images and video released today show widespread devastation 15 months after Israel declared war on Hamas, with Palestinians returning to bombed out homes and neighbourhoods

• Negotiations for the second phase of the ceasefire are expected to start in just over two weeks

Read more about the UN's warning about rebuilding Gaza, and what hostages are saying now they are free.

Adnan ElBursh
Gaza correspondent, in Doha

Image source, EPA

I’ve been speaking to people who returned to their homes after the ceasefire only to be confronted by indescribable devastation.

In the Al-Jenina neighbourhood of Rafah, Nawal Zanoun stands in disbelief before the ruins of what was once her home.

“This is where I lived with my family, where we shared the best days of our lives,” she says to me. “Now, it’s just rubble, like the rest of the neighbourhood.

"But, by God, we’ll rebuild. We’ll plant trees, raise children, and build towers if we must. They tried to erase us, but we will rise again.”

Haitham Abu Ubaid also returned to find his home completely destroyed, a sight so overwhelming that he now considers the displacement camp in Al-Mawasi a better option.

“There’s nothing left—just rubble,” he says, shaking his head. “Where can we live? Returning to the camp, even in a tent, seems better than this. Rafah has been completely wiped out. They annihilated us.”

These stories are echoed by countless others across Gaza. Families who once fled their homes in search of safety now face the haunting task of rebuilding their lives from scratch.

For many, the road ahead is uncertain.

We are now hearing from Emily Damari's mother, Mandy.

She says she is “delighted to tell you Emily is in high spirits" and "on the road to recovery".

She describes her daughter as an "amazingly strong and resilient young woman" before thanking the soldiers, Israeli government, former US President Joe Biden, President Trump as well as the British government for contributing to her release.

“Please keep on fighting for the remaining 94 hostages who need to come home”, she adds, saying "the hostages in Gaza must have access to humanitarian aid while they are waiting to be released”.

Image source, Reuters

Doron Steinbrecher's sister Yamit Ashkenazi starts off the press briefing thanking everyone who helped bring her home yesterday after 15 months in captivity.

Emily Damari's brother Tom then takes the stage, addressing the press in Hebrew. We'll bring you more details as we get them.

We're about to hear from relatives of the three Israeli hostages that were freed by Hamas over the weekend.

They are expected to deliver a public statement from the Sheba Medical Center, near Tel Aviv, where the hostages are receiving treatment.

Emily Damari's mother, Mandy Damari, and her brother Tom Damari, Romi Gonen's mother, Meirav Leshem, and Doron Steinbrecher's sister, Yamit Ashkenazi will be making statements.

We'll bring you the key lines from their statements.

We can now bring you the latest images from Gaza as displaced Palestinians return to devastated neighbourhoods 15 months after Israel began its military offensive in the Strip.

Most of Gaza's 2.2 million population have had to flee their homes during the conflict, moving into UN shelters, makeshift camps and tents.

Some are now returning to neighbourhoods destroyed by bombings, carrying their belongings in blankets and bags.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

More from Guterres now as earlier he warned any annexation of the West Bank by Israel "would constitute a most serious violation of international law".

The UN Secretary-General's comments follow media reports of violent clashes and "unabated illegal settlement expansion" by Israelis.

As Donald Trump is inaugurated as US President, pro-settlement Israelis have revived their controversial demands to formally annex parts of the Palestinian territory.

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich - himself a settler in the West Bank - said 2025 would be "the year of sovereignty" in the West Bank.

Image source, GPO

In the last few minutes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Donald Trump as he was inaugurated once again as US president.

Netanyahu says Trump's first time in office "was filled with groundbreaking moments in the history of the great alliance between our two countries".

"I believe that working together again we will raise the US-Israel alliance to even greater heights," he adds.

Netanyahu thanks Trump "for [his] efforts in helping free" the hostages, and he is "looking forward to working with [him] to return the remaining hostages, to destroy Hamas's military capabilities and end its political rule in Gaza, and ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel".

More: Donald Trump gives inaugural address after he is sworn in as 47th US president

"It will take time" for the delivery of aid into Gaza to adequately scale up, according to the head of aid organisation the International Rescue Committee (IRC), David Miliband.

Speaking to the news agency Reuters, Miliband says they want to increase the amount of aid entering Gaza "as quickly as possible", but with the ceasefire deal allowing for 600 truckloads a day, that's "a big step up".

It's the "biggest [aid] surge you can imagine, because it's a massive emergency", he says.

The IRC, Miliband adds, is focusing on water, sanitation, child protection and other healthcare.

Image source, Reuters

The second day of the phased ceasefire has enabled more lorries carrying essential humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The Qatari foreign ministry says that 12.5 million litres of fuel are expected to enter Gaza over the first 10 days of the truce, and the country sent 25 fuel trucks to the Palestinian territory on Monday.

As we mentioned in the post below, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres confirmed that 630 lorries entered Gaza yesterday, with 300 of them headed to the north of the territory.

Palestinians have been facing severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter during the course of the conflict, with a dramatic reduction in the number of aid deliveries entering the strip.

UN aid agencies have previously accused Israel of repeatedly blocking or delaying distribution of food, medicine and fuel. The Israeli government has denied such accusations.

• For context: before the conflict, about 80% of Gaza's population was in need of humanitarian aid

Image source, EPA

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release deal offers a "ray of hope" but he remains "deeply concerned about an existential threat to the integrity and contiguity of the occupied Palestinian territory of Gaza and the West Bank".

Speaking at a meeting of the UN Security Council, Guterres says he appreciates the "long overdue relief" felt by many in the Middle East.

And now all parties "must make good on their commitments" and fully implement the ceasefire deal, he adds.

Guterres says that the UN is "doing [its] part" for the rapid scaling up of aid to Gaza since the ceasefire. Of the 630 truckloads which entered the territory yesterday, at least 300 were headed to the north, he says.

During the first six-week phase of the ceasefire, a total of 33 hostages should be freed by Hamas in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israel.

The first three hostages - Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher - were released yesterday and the next exchange, providing the ceasefire holds, is set for 25 January.

Hamas is expected to release four female hostages and in exchange Israel will release between 30-50 Palestinian detainees for each hostage.

Over the first phase of the truce, Israel is expected to release some 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in total, while Hamas is expected to release 33 Israeli hostages over a six-week period.

Negotiations for the second phase - which will see the remaining hostages released, a full Israeli troop withdrawal and "the restoration of sustainable calm" - should start in just over two weeks.

Matt Lloyd
BBC Wales

Image source, Family photo

The Welsh family of an Israeli hostage due to be freed by Hamas say they do not know if he is still alive - and will not find out until his release.

Eli Sharabi is on a list of 33 hostages expected to be released during the current stage of the ceasefire.

However, that does not guarantee he is still alive, as Israel presumes 34 of the 91 hostages still held by Hamas could be dead.

"We're in a position where we will only know whether or not Eli has survived when it's his turn to come out," says Eli's brother-in-law Steve Brisley, from Bridgend.

Earlier, he told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast: "We will know, maybe 24 hours in advance whether or not Eli has survived his ordeal."

Back to Israel now, where the family of Israeli soldier Oron Shaul was finally able to hold his funeral more than 10 years after his death.

Shaul's body had been held in Gaza since he was killed in 2014 and was recovered during what the Israeli military called a "covert, special operation" yesterday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he had photos of soldiers, including Shaul, in his office as a reminder of his commitment to bring them back home.

"We will continue to act to return all of our hostages, the living and the deceased," said Netanyahu after Shaul's body was recovered.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

The Minister of Justice of Palestine says that the ministry are "doing our upmost, as if we are going back tomorrow” to reclaim control over Gaza nearly 20 years after they lost power to Hamas.

A little earlier, Sharhabeel Al Zaeem told Radio 4's World at One programme he hopes that the Palestinian Authority will be able to take over the Strip and function as normal.

"We hope that, by now, everybody realises that we need to get Gaza back to the Palestinian Authority in order to rebuild Gaza...and to help our people in Gaza to breathe," says the minster.

He says they have drafted presidential decrees, reviewed emergency regulation, and are hoping to bring back employees of the Palestinian Authority.

Al Zaeem says there are "good chances" and a "great possibility" of a revival of the Palestinian authority - subject to "high-level political negotiation".

• For context, the Palestinian Authority is the governing body which has overseen parts of the occupied West Bank since the 1990s and controlled Gaza until the 2006 elections

While the first stage of the ceasefire is cause for hope, the United Nations is warning it could take decades for Gaza to recover after 15 months of devastation.

The UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) estimates more than 50 million tonnes of debris has accumulated from the destruction, and describes the water and sanitation systems as "almost entirely defunct".

These maps show the scale of the damage on the coastal territory.

Image source, Reuters

Despite the ceasefire, the Israel Defense Forces account on X seems to be suggesting more fighting is on the horizon.

The IDF's chief of Staff, Major General Herzi Halevi says Israel "must be prepared for significant operations" in Judea and Samaria, in order to "pre-empt and capture the terrorists".

He also says preparations should be made to continued fighting in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, and adds "intense defence" plans should be made in Gaza.

But in a statement on X, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid retorted “Contrary to the government’s position, our goal is not to return to war," adding that rebuilding the economy, society and deterrence from attack should be the country's focus."

We've just seen a statement from Hamas who say Gaza and its people will "rise again" to rebuild after 15 months of war in the strip.

The statement reads: “Gaza, with its great people and its resilience, will rise again to rebuild what the occupation has destroyed and continue on the path of steadfastness until the occupation is defeated".

The statement has been issued on the second day of a hostage-ceasefire deal which has seen some Gazans return to their bombed-out homes and neighbourhoods. Three women who were taken hostage were released by Hamas yesterday.

• As a reminder: Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed more than 46,800 people since 7 October 2023, according to it's health ministry. The war followed the 7 October attacks on Israel, when Hamas killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostage

Families who lived for months in tents celebrate news of the ceasefire, with some already travelling back home to inspect what is left of the buildings they once lived in.

As we continue to report on day two of the truce, we can bring you these pictures of life on the ground now hostilities have been paused.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, epa

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

A Palestinian mother of nine children who has been living for several months in a tent in Gaza's Deir al-Balah says last night was the first night she spent "without the sound of drones or artillery or even ambulances."

Ayat Abedrabo told the Reuters news agency "even our children slept without any fear. Our children used to sleep, and wake up in the middle of the night frightened by the sound of bombardment".

She says she hopes to return home to Jabalia in northern Gaza to see if her home is still standing.

"The first thing (I will do) is go check on my house," she says.

"I will inspect my house, check up on family and loved ones. Despite the joy, there will be scars because we lost so many of our loved ones who became martyrs - and this is beside the injured ones who lost a leg or a hand or an eye. There will be as much sadness and pain as there is joy."