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.

As we've just reported, Hamas says it is awaiting a list from Israel of 90 Palestinian prisoners who'll be released later in exchange for the three Israeli hostages.

Here's everything we know - and don't know - about them:

• Yesterday, Egypt - a mediator in the ceasefire - said a total of 1,890 Palestinians would be released in the first six-week stage of the ceasefire
• Israel's justice ministry also released a list of 734 prisoners and detainees it said it would free - they're expected to be among the 1,890. We don't know about the rest - they could be people not held by Israel's justice system, for example Gazans detained by the IDF
• There are other details we don't know, such as the order the prisoners will be released in or how many at a time, but Palestinians have already started gathering near prisons to wait for news
• And although we haven't had the ratio corroborated by Israel, Hamas is suggesting the ceasefire states that for every Israeli hostage freed, 30 Palestinian prisoners will be too

Image source, Getty Images

Hamas says it's still waiting for Israel to send a list of the Palestinian prisoners - including women and children - it plans to release today as part of the ceasefire and hostage exchange deal.

In a statement, Hamas says the ceasefire states that for every Israeli hostage released, 30 Palestinian prisoners will be freed from Israeli jails - and that 90 should be then be freed today.

As a reminder, three Israeli women - who were taken hostage on 7 October 2023 by Hamas - are due to be released later.

A spokesperson for Gaza's health ministry told reporters earlier that they'll be working with the Red Cross for the prisoner exchange and the Gaza European Hospital - in the southern city of Khan Younis - is where the freed prisoners will be sent for initial treatment.

Joel Gunter
Reporting from Jerusalem

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid began entering Gaza on Sunday just 15 minutes after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began, UN aid official Jonathan Whittall says in a post on X.

"A massive effort has been under way over the past days from humanitarian partners to load and prepare to distribute a surge of aid across all of Gaza," he writes.

A vast amount of aid is required to stem the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The civilian population is lacking many basic needs, Juliette Touma, from the UN refugee agency UNRWA, adds.

"I would not call these living conditions, they are not conditions fit for human beings," she says.

Aid agencies are hoping as quickly as possible to have hundreds of trucks entering the strip daily, though there are concerns over arrangements for safely distributing the aid.

During the first phase of the deal, it is Hamas that remains responsible for administrative matters - including policing.

Image source, Getty Images

The first aid trucks have been seen entering Gaza this morning, since the ceasefire came into force.

The UN food agency says its aid trucks have entered into Gaza via two crossings: Zikim in the north and Kerem Shalom in the south. Other aid trucks have been seen entering the Strip via the Rafah crossing.

"The first trucks carried life-saving wheat flour and ready-to-eat food parcels for people in desperate need," the World Food Programme says on X.

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.

We reported earlier on the thousands of displaced Palestinians who've been pictured and filmed returning to the cities they fled during the 15-month war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

We're now seeing footage of some of those people pausing to celebrate, often in big groups, as they are able to make the journey - despite the reality being they may have no physical home to return to.

Saleem Nabhan, a displaced man from Gaza City, is quoted by Reuters news agency as saying: "Our homes were swept away, so we will set up a tent and stay in our neighbourhood, so we can feel that we are back to our neighbourhood, to our home."

In the southern city of Khan Younis, crowds are singing and chanting - guns have also been fired into the air. Here's the scene:

A long-awaited ceasefire in Gaza has come into force, but in Israel the deal is viewed with some caution.

While welcoming the chance to get Israeli hostages home, these people in Jerusalem also expressed concerns about the release of Palestinian prisoners and what may happen in the future:

• As a reminder: As part of the ceasefire agreement, Hamas will free Israelis it is holding in phases - and in exchange Israel will free a number of Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons. Get up to speed with what we know about the deal.

Jonah Fisher
Reporting from Tel Aviv

Outside Sheba Medical Center, on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, preparations are being made for the arrival of the hostages.

A media area has been set up for journalists - and blue barriers have been brought out in anticipation of possible large crowds of families and supporters.

Steve Walz, head of press for the hospital, tells us that the hostages will be brought there - but he has no idea when.

Walz says the hostages would be likely to arrive by helicopter and then taken out of public sight into the hospital.

We're expecting Hamas to hand over the three women - Doron Steinbrecher, Emily Damari and Romi Gonen - after 16:00 local time (14:00 GMT) to the Red Cross. They will then be given to the Israeli military who will take them to one of three locations outside Gaza.

An assessment will then be made of their medical needs - and they could then be flown here.

Lucy Manning
Special correspondent

Image source, Family handout

I've just been speaking to a source close to the Damari family, reacting to the news Emily is set to be freed by Hamas, who tells me:

"All Emily’s mum Mandy wants to do is hug Emily. But she won’t believe it until she sees it. It’s been a torturous 471 days, but a particularly torturous 24 hours.

"Until she’s out and Mandy can actually see that she’s out ... It hasn’t happened until it happens. It’s not done until it’s done. And there’s a long road ahead.

"They’ve no idea what condition they are in, and there are other hostages who need to be released and need humanitarian aid to be kept alive. It’s a long, long road ahead.

"Mandy is very grateful for all the love and support, advocacy and prayers.

"They are pleading with people to respect the family’s privacy. It’s an extremely sensitive time.

"It’s an absolute blessing Doron Steinbrecher and Emily are both on the list because the mums are best friends."

Despite the three-hour delay to the ceasefire this morning, key mediator Qatar suggests, external the release of the first three female hostages is still on for today - we've got details on the three here.

"They are three Israeli citizens, one of whom holds Romanian citizenship and the other British citizenship," Qatar says. "Thus, the ceasefire has begun."

The release of the first three hostages is supposed to happen sometime after 16:00 local time (14:00 GMT) today.

In a statement, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's office also says four other living female hostages could be freed in seven days.

• For context: Qatar, along with the US and Egypt, has played a key role in the mediation talks between Israel and Hamas.

Thousands of internally displaced Gazans have begun making their way back to their homes this morning.

Long lines of people carrying clothing and other belongings can be seen in pictures published by photographers in the territory. As can a convoy of cars, some filled with people holding the Palestinian flag.

Here's what we're seeing:

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters