Image source, Reuters

We can now bring you a new comment from US President Donald Trump.

"I appreciate that Israel has temporarily stopped the bombing in order to give the Hostage release and Peace Deal a chance to be completed," he says in a post on his Truth Social platform.

"Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off," he adds.

"I will not tolerate delay, which many think will happen, or any outcome where Gaza poses a threat again," he continues. "Let's get this done, FAST."

He adds: "Everyone will be treated fairly!"

The president's comments follow three separate air strikes this morning on Gaza City, one of which killed one person and left several others wounded, according to medical sources at al-Shifa hospital.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Imad Qudaih, a freelance journalist currently in al-Mawasi in southern Gaza, says people in Gaza are "really happy about the positive answer Hamas gave" regarding Trump's peace proposal.

He says people had been waiting for this kind of moment for a long time.

"Right now we can see some Egyptian bulldozers to the north of Gaza," Imad tells the BBC. He believes that the equipment is there "in order to clean the streets and prepare the circumstances … for the Israeli hostages release".

"We are waiting for more clarifications" on negotiations, he says, adding that there's a "quiet atmosphere" in al-Mawasi. But in the middle of Khan Younis, the "normal activity" of Israeli bombs took place this morning, Imad says.

International news outlets rely on local reporters within Gaza, as Israel does not allow foreign media, including BBC News, to send journalists into the territory. A small number have been taken into the Strip by Israeli troops under controlled access.

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, Reuters

Vicky Cohen, whose son Nimrod is still being held hostage in Gaza, says she feels a sense of hope today.

“I feel excited, hope and expectation,” she tells me over voice note at the thought of being reunited with Nimrod, an Israeli soldier who was abducted in the 7 October 2023 attacks.

But, she says, she is also in “fear that something will go wrong”.

“It is a fragile situation and we don’t want to be disappointed again. And yet I feel hope that soon I will see Nimrod and I can hug my loved one again,” she says.

South Africa "welcomes the decision by Hamas to release all Israeli hostages and its stated readiness for further engagement," according to a statement from the Department of Internal Relations.

The statement adds that it must be "met with reciprocal action" by Israel.

• For context: In December 2023, South Africa filed a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) alleging that Israel is engaging in "genocidal acts" in Gaza. Two days of hearings were held last year at The Hague, and the ICJ made several demands to Israel. Last month, and separately to the South African case, a UN commission of inquiry found Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel has always strongly rejected the accusations.

This is "the closest we've ever been" to a peace settlement since the 7 October 2023 attacks, says Lord Peter Ricketts, a former British senior diplomat and national security adviser.

"A lot of the credit for that goes to Trump" he tells the BBC News Channel. He adds that US President Donald Trump has "really created momentum" and "put serious pressure" on both Netanyahu and Hamas.

Hamas' response to the 20-point peace plan is "very astute", he says.

"They accepted the key demand that Israel has been making for the release of the hostages" he explains. "This will pile a lot of further pressure on Netanyahu... to get that part of the deal done".

Ricketts caveats that while not everything is agreed yet, getting to a "stage one" deal - which would see the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners, as well as the entry of aid into the Gaza - would be a "major achievement that seems to be in reach now".

The White House published a map detailing Israeli troop withdrawal as part of Trump's 20-point-plan.

BBC Verify takes a look at what this might mean for the Palestinian territory.

Image source, Getty Images

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has weighed in on Hamas's announcement that it would accept parts of President Trump's peace plan.

"We welcome" the US president's plan, he tells the crowd at a ceremony in Istanbul. Erdogan echoes Trump, saying that Hamas's response has shown it's "ready for peace".

A "window of opportunity" has opened to create a lasting peace in the region, he adds.

Erdogan calls for Israel to stop its military operations in Gaza and for all parties involved in the conflict to act with a "sense of responsibility" to bring about peace as soon as possible.

• For context: Turkey has long been a supporter of the Palestinians, including Hamas. Since May 2024, Turkey's President Erdogan has suspended all trade with Israel over its offensive in Gaza - which he calls a "genocide". He has characterised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's behaviour as that of a "war criminal".

Tom Bennett
Reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, Getty Images

I’ve just spoken to Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK.

“The worst part in the last two years,” he tells me over the phone, “is that while you are losing loved ones, your relatives, your friends, your neighbours, you are unable to allow yourself to grieve, or to feel the deep sadness and to process your human feelings. “

“Because your main focus is to try and stop what’s happening.”

He says that while he is hopeful of an end to the war being agreed in the coming weeks or months, many Palestinians are fearful of confronting the grief that has built up during the war.

“When our people and our families were being killed, the feeling was, how do you stop this?” he says. “How do you bury your dead and how do you tend to your wounded?”

“But after the event, which I hope to be very soon, the main feeling will be grief, mourning, and a deep, deep sense of loss. Because what we’ve lost is huge.”

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Jerusalem

“Hi. I am still alive.”

This is a message I received today from Suha, a pharmacist displaced in southern Gaza.

She tells me she has mixed feelings about the possibility of a deal between Israel and Hamas.

“The devil is in the details,” she writes over WhatsApp, adding that she is concerned that any agreement will benefit only Israel.

“The situation will not be rosy for us - the only difference will be the cessation of killing and destruction, the end of years of war that have exhausted us, and moving forward,” she writes.

Tom Bennett
Reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, Alon-Lee Green

I’ve just spoken to Alon-Lee Green, an Israeli peace activist.

“We’re feeling carefully optimistic,” he tells me on the phone. “It's not over until it's over and until we reach the real details of the agreement.”

“But it's a big question whether the return of hostages and the end of daily bombing is peace," he says.

“Of course it’s a necessary step. And there will be no happier person than me to see it happening.”

“But I think it will not end there - and we mustn't think that just coming back to 6 October, the day before 7 October 2023, is peace.”

“We really need to keep our pressure on to see progress towards real Israeli-Palestinian peace, meaning ending the occupation in the West Bank and withdrawing from Gaza.”

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, reporting from Jerusalem

Negotiations for a deal between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Egypt in the coming days, after the group agreed to release all remaining hostages, but said it wanted further talks on other issues.

Hamas was under mounting pressure to accept at least some points of Trump’s plan for Gaza, and this is exactly what they’ve done.

But key sticking points remain, including the group’s disarmament, a timeline for the Israeli withdrawal and guarantees that Israel will not resume the war after the hostages are freed.

In Gaza City, there have been fresh air strikes despite Trump’s call for Israel to stop bombing the territory.

President Trump has been personally involved in the negotiations, and is putting on pressure for the war to end. There is huge momentum for a deal – but this is no guarantee that one will be reached.

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Jerusalem

Rewaa Mohsen, a mother of two in central Gaza, is hoping that the war will soon end.

“I hope they finalise everything and agree,” she tells me over WhatsApp.

“It’s not a good plan for the Palestinians but at least they will not evacuate us to another country and the killing will stop - this is the most important thing to me,” she says.

Rewaa is preparing to mark her daughter’s second birthday tomorrow, and is focused today on trying to find a small gift for her.

“She was just two days old [when the war started] - we will celebrate all her coming years in peace I hope,” she says.

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, Eyal Eshel

I’ve been speaking to people in Israel who lost family and friends in the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks about their reactions to Trump’s peace plan.

Eyal Eshel, whose teenage daughter Roni was killed while stationed as an observer at a military base on the border, tells me he's feeling “a little optimistic” today.

“I hope this bad story will be finished and the hostages will come home.”

Shir Guttentag, who hid with her children in her home in Kibbutz Be’eri on 7 October, says she has mixed feelings.

“I really hope this is going to happen but whether I feel positive about it I don’t know because we’ve been disappointed so many times,” she says. “I wish we can do it [end the war]."

Simon King, also from Be’eri, meanwhile says he is “very pessimistic” that a deal will be reached.

Image source, Getty Images

Hussein al-Sheikh, vice-president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), says he welcomes Trump's "announcement of the cessation of the war, and the positive statements of Hamas".

In a post on X, he also says the PA is ready to work towards the ceasefire, the release of hostages and prisoners, the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, "the complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and the transition to a political path on the basis of the two-state solution".

There is still some way to go, though, before any or all of these will happen, because while Hamas has said it agrees to the peace plan in principle, the group wants changes to it, and certain conditions to be met.

You can read more about this from the BBC's John Sudworth in Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health - Gaza says at least 66 people were killed by Israeli aggression in the last 24 hours, raising the death toll in the Strip since 7 October to 67,074.

The Hamas-run health ministry says another 265 injured people have arrived at hospitals in the Gaza Strip in the same time frame.

A number of people remain under rubble, with help currently unable to reach them, the ministry statement adds.

Image source, Reuters

Since news broke last night that Hamas would agree to release the hostages, but wanted changes to Trump's peace plan, messages of cautious optimism have emerged. Here are the main developments so far today:

• Several explosions were seen in Gaza in the early hours of Saturday, and Gaza City was hit by three separate air strikes, killing one person, hours after Trump urged Israel to stop bombing the Strip
• The IDF has warned Palestinians that the north of the Gaza Strip and around Gaza City remains a "dangerous combat zone", and again urged people to move south
• The Israeli military has also been told to prepare for the first phase of the peace deal - the return of the hostages
• A demonstration will be held in Hostages Square, Tel Aviv, tonight, with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum saying it is "decisive days for a deal"
• Opposition leaders have backed the peace plan and called on Netanyahu to move forward with it

Israel's military has been told to get ready for the first phase of Donald Trump's peace plan - the return of the hostages.

In a post on X, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says the safety of its troops in the Gaza Strip is a "top priority" and that "all IDF capabilities" will be sent to the Southern Command for their protection.

"Given the operational sensitivity, all troops must maintain high alertness and vigilance," the post says, adding there may still be a need "for a rapid response to neutralize any threat".

The 20-point peace plan states that all remaining 48 hostages - of which 20 are believed to still be alive - will be released by Hamas within 72 hours of the agreement being accepted.

Hamas has said it agrees to the plan in principle, and will release the hostages, but the group wants further negotiations on some key points. We outlined what the group has agreed to in our earlier post.

• Read more about the agreement here
• Trump's 20-point Gaza peace plan in full

Rushdi Abualouf
BBC News Gaza correspondent

In Gaza, people were left in shock after Hamas issued a carefully crafted response to President Trump’s proposal.

Hundreds of Palestinians flooded my social media accounts and messaging apps with questions like: “Has the war ended?” and “Is this a dream or reality?”

The dramatic pace of developments has left many struggling to grasp what comes next.

The movement’s statement - widely seen as drafted with the help of mediators - stopped short of outright rejection and instead offered a rare “yes”. It was, many Palestinians say, a calculated reply that put the ball back in Israel’s court.

Yet reactions on the ground ranged from hope to deep suspicion. Some fear Hamas has walked into a trap, that Israel will reclaim its hostages only to resume the war. Others believe a historic opportunity has opened to end two years of destruction.

“I advise patience,” Ibrahim Fares tells the BBC. “Don’t get carried away by optimism. There will be rounds of talks over the details. The devil is always in the details. God willing it goes forward, but look at Lebanon, where even now there are still displaced people and air strikes.”

Mahmoud Daher notes on Facebook that Hamas’s response was unusual for its directness. “This time it was ‘yes’ without the usual ‘but’ immediately after,” he writes. “Yes to prisoner release under Trump’s formula, yes to ending the war and withdrawal, yes to handing power to a Palestinian authority. The ‘buts’ came only later. Hamas even played to Trump’s ego with praise.”

But not everyone is convinced.

Gaza-based activist and long-time Hamas critic Khalil Abu Shammala says the decision was about the movement’s survival: “They will call this wisdom, or putting the people first. But the truth is, it’s about Hamas staying in power. I even doubt Hamas wrote the statement - it was too clever.”

For now, uncertainty dominates. Optimism exists, but so do doubts, as Palestinians wait to see whether the words on paper can truly be enough to end the war.

Efrat Machikawa, who had six members of her family kidnapped by Hamas during the 7 October attack, says the families of the hostages are "carefully hopeful" about this week's developments.

The 729 days of war have been "so long, tiring and exhausting", Machikawa tells the BBC. "We are so fed up of the war, we want every single hostage home".

Machikawa considers the US peace plan "the greatest advancement in a very long time" and she's grateful to mediators and President Trump for their efforts.

It's Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's responsibility to make sure "no-one will move from this path of bringing this to an end," she says. "It's a difficult week coming up, but we're really hopeful," she adds.

• Five of Machikawa's relatives who were kidnapped on 7 October have now returned home. One of her relatives was killed

Lucy Manning
Special correspondent

Former hostage Eli Sharabi - who only discovered, after 491 days of captivity that his British-Israeli wife and daughters had been killed on 7 October - has called on President Trump to “finish the job” to ensure all the remaining hostages are released.

In his first UK interview, broadcast by the BBC yesterday, he says the war needs to stop so the hostages can come home.

He details the abuse and starvation he has suffered at the hands of Hamas and the moment he found out on his release that his family hadn’t survived.

• You can read more about Eli Sharabi's story in our article