Image source, Getty Images

Palestinian politician Khalida Jarrar is among those believed to have been freed, according to several media outlets, including the Associated Press and the New York Times.

Jarrar is a prominent leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a group designated a "terrorist organisation" by Israel, the US and the European Union. She has been in and out of jail for much of the past decade, being previously convicted of charges like incitement.

The task ahead is daunting for Gazans wishing to return to the shattered ruins of their homes.

There is relief the fighting has stopped, but for the survivors there is little left for them to go back to.

In this video, showing Deir al-Balah in Gaza, the BBC's Fergal Keane hears what they hope their lives will look like now:

Image source, EPA

More than 630 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza on Sunday, with at least 300 of them headed towards the north of the strip, says Tom Fletcher, the UN's under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs.

"There is no time to lose," he says, before adding:

Gaza relies heavily on aid for food.

In recent weeks, just 40 trucks of aid were getting in on average, while pre-conflict, around 500 trucks entered Gaza daily.

The ceasefire deal requires 600 aid trucks to enter each day.

Image source, Getty Images

All throughout Sunday, people have been gathering in the West Bank to greet the released Palestinian prisoners.

It's just past two in the morning there now - but as the buses carrying them rolled through the town of Beitunia, the crowds cheered, chanted and honked car horns in excitement.

Inside the bus, a handful of the freed women smiled and flashed V-signs, while a Red Cross staff member watched on, according to the AFP news agency.

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting, 90 Palestinian prisoners have just been released as part of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

The Palestinians freed from Israeli prisons include 69 women and 21 teenage boys from the West Bank and Jerusalem, according to Hamas.

According to the Reuters news agency, most of the people released today were recently detained and not tried or convicted.

Over the first phase of the truce, Israel is expected to release about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, while Hamas is expected to release some 33 Israeli hostages.

We've just received some pictures from the Reuters news agency showing crowds in the West Bank gathered around a bus carrying the freed Palestinian prisoners.

Here are some of the latest photos:

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

The Israeli prison service has said that 90 Palestinian prisoners have been released in the West Bank.

As we've been reporting, the prisoners are being released as part of the first phase of a long-awaited ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

It comes after three Israeli hostages were released by Hamas to the Red Cross in Gaza City earlier, on Sunday.

We'll continue to bring you the latest updates as we get them.

Image source, Getty Images

A much-awaited ceasefire between Israel and Hamas – which at points this morning seemed on the verge of collapsing – has now come into effect.

The first three hostages to be released from the militant group in Gaza have now returned to Israel – they were received at a hospital in Tel Aviv not long ago and are said to be in “stable condition”.

Here's what else has been happening today:

• 90 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli military jails have yet to be released - as part of the first phase of the deal, they were to be freed in exchange for the safe return of the first set of Israeli hostages
• Al Jazeera reports, citing sources, that Red Cross staff is still examining those prisoners at Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank
• We’ve seen stirring images of displaced Palestinians in Gaza, both jubilant and grieving, when faced with returning to their flattened neighbourhoods which they were forced to flee many months ago
• Aid trucks have also begun entering Gaza - the ceasefire deal requires 600 of the lorries to cross the border each day

We're continuing to follow this story closely and will bring you updates on the Palestinian prisoner release as soon as we get them. Stick with us.

A small group of families and friends of the Palestinian prisoners set to be released from Israeli jails today are still gathering outside Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank.

There was no specific time provided as to when the prisoner exchange would take place, but it seems that people are preparing to wait till given further notice

• A reminder: As part of the first phase of the ceasefire deal agreed to between Israel and Hamas, 90 Palestinian prisoners were set to be released in exchange for the three Israeli hostages freed earlier today

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, YouTube

Moving away from the Middle East for a moment, let's turn our attention to Washington DC, where Donald Trump is holding a victory rally ahead of his inauguration on Monday.

We've just heard from Trump's recently appointed Middle East envoy - Steve Witkoff.

"I just received on my phone pictures of the first three hostages who were released," Witcoff says, before taking a moment to appreciate the roaring applause from the crowd.

Witkoff is an important figure in the ceasefire, as it was his and Trump's intervention that got the Israeli government to set aside the final reservations that seems to have been critical in getting the deal agreed to.

The incoming Middle East envoy takes a moment on the stage of the Capitol Arena to appreciate "the great team" that finally got that agreement across the line, but emphasises that "it doesn't happen without Donald J Trump".

"The president was responsible for this release and we all owe him a debt of gratitude, as do the families," says Witkoff.

• More: How historic Gaza deal was sealed with 10 minutes to spare

Let's take you back to the scene when the Israeli hostages released earlier today were reunited with their families - a moment that was met with long-awaited hugs and tears.

In the clip, you can see Doron Steinbrecher, British-Israeli Emily Damari, and Romi Gonen being handed to Red Cross workers in Gaza City, before they're returned to Israeli authorities.

In exchange for each of these hostages, Hamas says 30 Palestinian prisoners are supposed be released from Israeli jails - that means 90 Palestinians are expected to be freed, but we've yet to receive confirmation that that exchange has taken place.

As our colleague Jon Donnison just reported from the West Bank, we are still waiting for the release of 90 Palestinian prisoners due to be freed from Israel's Ofer prison.

Al Jazeera, quoting sources, now says that teams from the Red Cross are still examining the prisoners who are scheduled for release.

The Red Cross was also involved in the release of the Israeli hostages, taking them from Hamas control in Gaza City to the Israeli military, from where they went to Israel.

As a reminder, Hamas says 30 prisoners should be released for every Israeli hostage freed.

Jon Donnison
Reporting from Beitunia

Image source, Getty Images

The families of 90 Palestinian prisoners are waiting anxiously in the occupied West Bank for them to be released from Israeli jails as part of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Hundreds have packed into the town square in Beitunia, about one mile (1.6km) up the road from Israel's Ofer prison, waving Palestinian flags and chanting.

Amid an atmosphere of excitement and nervous anticipation Diash Dara was waiting for her sister Hadil.

The 32-year-old university administrative worker has been detained without charge for seven months.

"I'm happy, I think, confused a little bit because of what happened in Gaza," Diash tells me.

"The most important thing is that they stopped the war in Gaza. Even if she wasn't released today, we [would] be ok with it. But at least the war has been ended."

The majority of the 90 Palestinian prisoners expected to be released on Sunday are women, as well as a number of children.

Around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Gaza are due to be released in the first phase of the deal in exchange for 33 Israeli hostages - three of whom were released earlier.

Image source, EPA

As we've been reporting, three Israeli women hostages who were being held by Hamas in Gaza have now been returned to Israel.

About 251 hostages were seized when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023. It is still holding 91 captive, although Israel believes that only 60 are still alive.

Thirty three of the hostages are to be released in the first phase of the ceasefire, with the first three getting freed today.

The IDF said earlier that throughout the first phase of the ceasefire (expected to last 42 days), three to four hostages will be released each week.

A Hamas official later told AFP news agency that the next hostage-prisoner swap will take place on Saturday 25 January.

The remaining hostages are to be released during the second phase of the truce.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have shared more footage of the three hostages freed today as they reunited with their families at Sheba hospital in Tel Aviv.

In the video below, dual British-Israeli Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher can be seen hugging and speaking with their friends and extended family:

Image source, Reuters

We are now hearing from Prof Itai Pessach, the director of the children's hospital at Sheba hospital in Tel Aviv.

He confirms that the hostages are all in "stable condition", which he says now allows them to focus on the most important: reuniting with their families.

We will continue to monitor their clinical condition, Pessach says, noting that this will take a few more days.

"This is not the first time we've received hostages here," the doctor notes, highlighting how it's a "very emotional time here" and all those involved "feel privileged" to treat these hostages.

Image source, Reuters

We're now getting an update on the condition of the three hostages from representatives at the hospital in Tel Aviv where they arrived earlier.

The Deputy Director General of Health begins by saying that the entire staff at the Sheba hospital was "overjoyed" at the arrival of Doron Steinbrecher, dual British-Israeli Emily Damari, and Romi Gonen.

Dr Sefi Mendelovich explains that preparing treatment for the hostages required co-operation from a large team and stresses that they will provide "comprehensive, compassionate care" for the women.

"We are ready to treat anything," says Mendelovich.

He outlines that this is a complex situation to treat, both emotionally and physically, and implores the public and the media to "respect their privacy" at this difficult time.

Lucy Manning
Special correspondent, reporting from north London

Emily Damari’s cousin, Tony Moss, has described his "huge relief" at her release, but says Sunday was "just the beginning – we need to get the other hostages out".

Speaking to me from an event in Golders Green, north London, where campaigners handed out flyers calling for the release of the other hostages, Moss says he "broke down in tears" after seeing pictures of Emily with her mother, Amanda.

"We’re just overjoyed lost for words… [we] didn’t think it was going to happen, and that she’d be first out," he says.

"There’s been an anxiety for 471 days, a huge anxiety that we were all carrying around with us and we can let that go now but only in respect of Emily."

Moss says he only celebrated once Emily was "back over the border and in the hands of her mother".

"You saw how fragile it was when they were in Gaza surrounded by Hamas terrorists and mobs," he says. "Anything could’ve happened."

Image source, Reuters

As we've reported, we're still waiting for Israel to release 90 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the three Israeli hostages freed earlier today.

The prisoners will be released from Israel's Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank, where some families are waiting for their relatives.

In the nearby West Bank town of Beitunia, crowds are waiting for the prisoners, while some locals have started fires to create roadblocks.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent, reporting from Istanbul

Image source, Reuters

As Palestinians poured onto the streets of Gaza to celebrate the ceasefire, moments of joy faded for many as they returned to their homes to be met by destruction.

In Jabalia, a town in northern Gaza that was home to the largest refugee camp in the strip, pictures and videos shared by residents revealed entire neighbourhoods reduced to rubble.

Returning to the al-Faluja area of Jabalia, Duaa al-Khalidi tells BBC News: "I survived with my two daughters - we came out from under the rubble of our house.

"Here, beneath the debris, the bodies of my husband, my mother-in-law, and my sister-in-law have remained buried since 9 October."

The 28-year-old mother of two continues: "I want nothing but their bodies so I can bury them with dignity."

Jabalia camp, once home to over 250,000 Palestinians, became the site of the largest and most violent Israeli military operation during the war, with around 4,000 Palestinians killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

• Read our full story on what Gazans are returning to on day one of the ceasefire

Image source, Reuters