The Israeli government has now officially confirmed the names of the three hostages who have just been handed over to Red Cross workers from Hamas.

A reminder, earlier, it was only Hamas who had released the names of the hostages - Romi Gonen, 24; Doron Steinbrecher, 31; and Emily Damari, 28.

It adds in the statement: "The Israeli government embraces the three returnees. Their families have been informed by the relevant authorities that they have joined our forces.

"The government, together with all security agencies, will accompany them and their families."

As our colleague in Jerusalem reported moments ago, a chaotic scene was carried on live TV when the Israeli hostages were transferred from Hamas over to the Red Cross.

We're now getting more footage from inside Gaza City where the exchange took place, which shows hooded Hamas gunman standing guard on top of the Red Cross vehicles that are holding the three women.

An update now from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) - Israel's military - about the hostages.

In a statement on X, the IDF says:

"The three returnees are now being escorted by an elite IDF unit and Shin Bet security force on their way back to Israel, where they will undergo an initial medical evaluation.

"IDF commanders and soldiers salute and embrace the returnees on their way to Israel."

Three female hostages, held by Hamas for the last 15 months, have been released.

The handover to Red Cross workers was met with cheers by Israelis watching the news on a large public screen in Tel Aviv.

Here's that moment:

Image source, Family handout

We've just brought you a flurry of updates, all confirming that three Israeli hostages have now been handed over from Hamas to the Red Cross.

Earlier, the militant group announced that three women - Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbreche - would be the first returned in this first phase of the ceasefire deal. More hostages will be exchanged at later stages in the truce.

Here's what we know about these three women:

• Doron Steinbrecher, 31, a veterinary nurse, was in her apartment in Kibbutz Kfar Aza when Hamas attacked
• Emily Damari, 28, who holds dual British-Israeli nationality, was taken hostage from Kibbutz Kfar Aza
• Romi Gonen, 24, was ambushed as she tried to escape from the Supernova Festival

Here's everything we know about the three of them.

Joel Gunter
Reporting from Jerusalem

Live TV coverage from Gaza shows a chaotic scene as crowds surround what appear to be the vehicles transporting the three Israeli hostages to the handover point with the Red Cross.

The white vehicles were surrounded by Hamas fighters, who struggled to prevent people massing around the cars.

At one point, the door of one of the vans was pulled open to reveal what appeared to be three women, who were then spirited out of the van.

According to the plan for the release of the three hostages - Romi Gonen, 24, Doron Steinbrecher, 31, and Emily Damari, 28, a British citizen - Hamas will hand them over to the Red Cross, which will then hand them on to the Israeli military to be taken out of the Gaza Strip.

A bit more for you now on the breaking news that three Israeli hostages have been handed over to Red Cross officials in the last few minutes.

AFP news agency has the following statement from what it describes as a senior Hamas official:

"The three women hostages were officially handed over to the Red Cross at Al-Saraya Square in the Al-Rimal neighbourhood in western Gaza City.

"This occurred after a member of the Red Cross team met with them and ensured their well-being."

• For context: We were told earlier that Doron Steinbrecher, Emily Damari and Romi Gonen would be the first hostages returned to Israel from Hamas. Later, we're expecting 90 Palestinian prisoners to be released from Israeli prisons in return.

We've just had confirmation of the hostage handover through from the Israeli military.

The Red Cross says that the three Israeli hostages were transferred to them and are on their way toward IDF and ISA forces in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli hostages have now been handed over to Red Cross workers by Hamas in Gaza.

We'll bring you more on this shortly.

While Israel waits for Hamas to deliver the first of 33 hostages in Gaza, we can bring you some pictures from the occupied West Bank, where several Israeli police mini-buses have been parked outside Ofer prison in the last couple of hours.

As a reminder, the ceasefire agreed by Israel and Hamas requires the Israeli government to release hundreds of Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons over the next six weeks - in return for its citizens.

While we haven't had the ratio confirmed by Israel, Hamas is suggesting the deal states that for every Israeli hostage freed, 30 Palestinian prisoners will be too.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

We've just seen footage of what appears to be a Israeli Air Force (IAF) helicopter landing in Re'im in southern Israel, not far from the Gaza border.

The IAF also says on X its helicopters are preparing for the process to receive the soon-to-be freed women. Reports suggest Red Cross teams are arriving in Gaza to collect them.

Our colleague Alex Forster earlier explained the IDF picked the small kibbutz to serve as one of three dedicated locations where the first three hostages freed by Hamas will be taken, after being brought out of Gaza.

As we wait for news of the first three hostages being released, we can bring you some comments from one of the doctors preparing to treat the women after they're freed.

Dr Osnat Levtzion-Korach from a medical centre near Tel Aviv says the medical teams "don't really know what to expect" - adding they'll be looking out for the effects of starvation as well as lack of sun.

"The other thing is the mental condition from being kept alone (and) there is a lot of psychological terror," she tells BBC World Service's Newshour.

"The way that we prepare ourselves (as doctors) is to approach them very gently to give them back control of their own lives."

Sam Hancock
Live page editor

A ceasefire that was due to begin at 08:30 local time (06:30 GMT) this morning looked like it wouldn't happen at all when Israel put its agreement with Hamas on hold, with less than an hour to go. It accused the militant group of having failed to hand over the names of Israeli hostages it planned to release, which Hamas blamed on "technical" issues.

Soon after, explosions were reported across Gaza and the Hamas-run civil defence agency reported that in the time the deal had been abandoned at least 19 more Palestinians had been killed.

But when Hamas did eventually get its list of names over to Israel, the long-awaited ceasefire was called at 11:15 local time and - five hours later - things seem to be developing as you'd expect:

• Our teams on the ground say hospitals in Israel are preparing for the arrival of Doron Steinbrecher, dual British-Israeli Emily Damari and Romi Gonen - the Red Cross has reportedly said they're on their way to collect them
• Hamas is awaiting a list from Israel of 90 Palestinian prisoners it's expecting to be released in return
• And photographs show thousands of smiling and celebrating Gazans on their way home to the areas they were forced to flee during the 15 months of fighting

So, there's optimism in the air but there's a way to go yet. The start of the ceasefire means we're in the six-week first phase of the deal, but there are another two phases to go after that. For more on the finer details, here's everything we know about the deal.

What next? We await more details of the Israel hostage and Palestinian prisoner releases - all of which we'll bring you right here.

Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent in Istanbul

The future is "uncertain and unclear" in Gaza despite the ceasefire coming into force, BBC Middle East Correspondent Rushdi Abualouf says.

"People don't know if it's a real ceasefire on the ground, or a fragile ceasefire", he adds - you can listen to his comments below.

We're now hearing that a Red Cross team in the Gaza Strip is on its way to collect the three Israeli female hostages ahead of being handed over to Israeli authorities, Israeli media and Reuters news agency reports.

At the same time, we've also just heard from an Israeli government spokesperson, who has just told reporters that they "have nothing new to share with you at this time".

David Mencer, the Israeli government spokesperson, stresses that "we'll confirm the release of the hostages and their arrival when they arrive in Israel".

• As a reminder:The three Israeli hostages - Doron Steinbrecher, Emily Damari and Romi Gonen - are expected to be handed over by Hamas after 16:00 local time (14:00 GMT) to the Red Cross

Explosion in Khan Younis minutes before ceasefire beganpublished at 13:45 Greenwich Mean Time 19 January

13:45 GMT 19 January

As we've just reported, violence in Gaza continued this morning right up until the moment the ceasefire belatedly came into force.

BBC Verify and BBC Arabic Forensics have been verifying footage from minutes before the ceasefire began at 09:15 local time (11:15 GMT).

Two videos have been posted which show the scene on the same street in Khan Younis, likely minutes apart, where it appears a number of people have been killed.

One shows motionless bodies being attended by a crowd, the other shows a white van (seen in the first video) struck from above.

We've searched and there are no prior images of these videos and according to the direction of the sun it suggests both were filmed between 08:30 and 09:00 local time, before the ceasefire officially began.

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry has today released an updated death toll from the war in Gaza, saying 46,913 people have been killed since it began on 7 October.

Fighting is now due to stop in the Strip for the next six weeks, under the first stage of the ceasefire.

In the hours up until the ceasefire coming into force - including the three hours it was delayed - 19 people were killed, according to the Hamas-run civil defence agency, external in a separate statement.

Image source, EPA

Wafa al-Habeel is among the displaced Palestinians heading home today, and tells AFP news agency she is "feeling very, very happy" to leave Khan Younis and go back to Gaza City.

"I want to go back and kiss the ground and the soil of Gaza," she says. "I am longing for Gaza [City] and longing for our loved ones, and I'm sad for those who left us".

Mohammed Abu Armaneh tells Reuters returning to Rafah is an "indescribable feeling" - but mourns for what has happened

"At first in Rafah, we see the destruction - destruction we have not seen before," he says, referring to the rubble where houses used to stand. "Our people paid too much and deserve so much."

Image source, Getty Images

John Simpson
World Affairs Editor

The ceasefire has been greeted with relief and joy everywhere, but we shouldn’t think peace has somehow broken out.

At best, the first phase of the ceasefire agreement will be a time of immense tension. Prime Minister Netanyahu has called it "only temporary", and the far-right political allies he depends on want him to start the war again when the 42 days are up.

For its part, Hamas believes it has won, and the US says new volunteers have mostly replaced the 17,000 Hamas fighters Israel has killed. Netanyahu swore to "eradicate" Hamas, but for all Israel’s successes and overwhelming firepower, that hasn’t happened.

For 50 years, there have been efforts to get peace in the Middle East, and Nobel prizes have been showered on leaders on all sides. But the terrible scale of killing on both sides means the hatred between Israelis and Palestinians is now fiercer than ever.