UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has responded to the news of Israel and Hamas agreeing to the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire plan:

“I welcome the news that a deal has been reached on the first stage of President Trump’s peace plan for Gaza," he says in a statement.

“This is a moment of profound relief that will be felt all around the world, but particularly for the hostages, their families, and for the civilian population of Gaza, who have all endured unimaginable suffering over the last two years."

Reuters reports residents of Khan Younis in southern Gaza erupting in cheers following the announcement of a peace deal.

“Thank God, today President Trump announced that the war stopped, we are very happy that the war stopped, this is something joyful for us and we thank our brothers and anyone who contributed even if verbally to stop the war and to stop the bloodshed,” Wael Radwan tells the news agency.

“Thank God for the ceasefire, the end of bloodshed and killing. I am not the only one happy, all of the Gaza Strip is happy, all the Arab people, all of the world is happy with the ceasefire and the end of bloodshed. Thank you and all the love to those who stood with us,” says Abdul Majeed Rabbo.

Palestinians in Gaza have been celebrating overnight as news broke of a potential peace deal in the war-torn territory.

Here are some of the latest pictures from the southern city of Khan Younis.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Peace deal is a significant breakthroughpublished at 03:34 BST

03:34 BST

Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent

This is, most of all, a human moment. The first sparks tell this story: the eruption of joy in the dead of night in the streets of Gaza; the dancing in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square.

If all unfolds as it should on Thursday, the last of the Israeli hostages will soon start coming home, as will hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The guns will fall silent in Gaza, more aid will flow in, and Palestinians won’t live their days fearing it could be their last.

This moment is bittersweet. There is grumbling, too, that this deal is not so different from one put forward by former US President Biden as early as last May. And there are warnings that it must not fall apart – as Israeli-Palestinian deals have done through the decades.

But it’s a significant breakthrough.

And only President Donald Trump could do it. That’s what been said for so long. Only the US president and commander-in-chief could exert the pressure, most of all on his political ally and personal friend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to finally get this deal done. His strong partnership with Arab leaders, as well as Turkey, also brought a weakened Hamas to this point.

It is only the beginning, not the end. It’s a ceasefire, not a peace deal. Major gaps still need to be closed on issues ranging from Hamas’s guns to governance in Gaza and the extent of Israel’s military presence. But it’s a moment to celebrate.

Unicef spokesman James Elder has posted a short Instagram video of himself in Gaza, elated by the news of potential peace in the territory that has been ravaged by war for more than two years.

"Is this the moment?," he asks, as roosters crow off-camera and he stands with a dark night sky behind him.

"It's incredibly quiet outside, it's the middle of the night. People haven't heard yet but also it's incredibly quiet from the skies," he says, pointing upwards and with a wide smile.

"Come on!," he adds, raising crossed fingers in the air.

Image source, Get

Israel's defence minister Israel Katz has issued a statement on the deal.

On X, Katz said the release of the hostages was a "blessing", and thanked the presidents of Israel and the US.

He also thanked Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers who "with their courage, determination, and immense sacrifice, brought us to this great moment".

"I warmly embrace the families of the hostages for the anticipated return of their loved ones, including IDF soldiers and fallen heroes, home soon."

Katz closed his post saying: "The entire nation is waiting and excited."

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has released a statement saying it welcomes "the signing of the agreement for the return of the hostages, which was signed overnight".It also says in a social media post:

"During a situational assessment held overnight, the Chief of the General Staff instructed all forces, both on the front lines and in the rear areas, to prepare strong defenses and be ready for any scenario.

Force deployments will be carried out in accordance with the directives of the political echelon and the stages of the agreement, with responsibility and a focus on the safety of our soldiers. At the same time, the Chief of the General Staff instructed to prepare to lead the operation for the hostages’ return, which is expected to be conducted with sensitivity and professionalism.

The IDF will continue to act to achieve the objectives of the war and to defend the citizens of the State of Israel on all fronts."

Image source, EPA

Australia has welcomed the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

"After more than two years of conflict, hostages held and a devastating loss of civilian life, this is a much needed step towards peace," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says in a statement. "We urge all parties to respect the terms of the plan."

He thanks Trump for his "diplomatic efforts" and the role of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey in the negotiations.

Australia also supports the peace plan's commitment to deny Hamas any role in the future of Gaza, he says, adding it will be a "very long road to recovery in Gaza, securing long term peace and building the Palestinian state".

Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent

A Palestinian source has told the BBC that Hamas has not yet received the final list of Palestinian prisoners that Israel plans to release in exchange for the Israeli hostages in Gaza.

The source said the delay was linked to pressure inside Israel over the identities of some of those whose release Hamas is seeking. However, they added, efforts were under way to resolve the issue within hours.

The ceasefire agreement stipulates that 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,700 Gazans detained by Israeli forces since the war began will be released, according to the source.

Israel’s Haaretz newspaper also cited Israeli sources as saying that the deal did not specify the names of the Palestinian prisoners.

On Wednesday morning, a Hamas official told the BBC that the list of prisoners it had submitted to mediators in Sharm el-Sheikh included high-profile figures serving multiple life sentences for deadly attacks on Israelis. One of them was Marwan Barghouti, seen by many Palestinians as a potential future president. It is unclear if his release has been agreed to.

Trump tells Hannity that now, "People are going to be taken care of. It's going to be a different world. I think really, the Middle East came together."

"Gaza, we believe is going to be a much safer place and it's going to be a place that reconstructs and other countries in the area will help it reconstruct because they have tremendous amounts of wealth, and they want to see that happen."

"I'm very confident there'll be peace in the Middle East."

Speaking to Sean Hannity on the phone on Fox News, Trump says that what comes after part one of the peace plan, is that: "You'll see people getting along and Gaza will be rebuilt." He says it's going to be a "different world" and that there will be "wealth spent in Gaza".

Image source, Anadolu via Getty Images

Trump is now talking to Hannity about Iran. He says Iran was maybe a month away from getting nuclear weapons and that would have hurt the Gaza plan.

"If I allowed that to happen, this deal would not have been possible. Or if it was, it would have a tremendous cloud over it, because you'd have a country with a nuclear weapon that was not obviously very friendly."

"As you saw they bless the deal," he says.

"By the way, I believe Iran is going to be involved in the peace situation."

When Netanyahu called Trump, the Israeli PM said that "people liked him" again, Trump said. And Trump responded that people, "like Israel again".

There was a certain degree of luck in all of this, Trump says.

US President Donald Trump is speaking to Fox News host Sean Hannity on the phone.

Trump tells Hannity the ceasefire negotiations were supported by US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice-President JD Vance, and Jared Kushner, a former special advisor to the president and Trump's son-in-law."The whole world came together, to be honest. The world has come together around this deal." Many countries "have wired" their best wishes, he says.

Trump says this is more than Gaza, this is "peace in the Middle East".

"It's been really an amazing period of time. So great for Israel, so great for Muslims and the Arab countries," Trump says.

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent

After intense negotiations, Israel and Hamas have reached agreement on the first phase of a peace plan for Gaza.

The breakthrough was first announced by US President Donald Trump, who called it a great day for the world.

Trump said all the hostages would be released soon and Israel would withdraw its troops to an agreed line.

He said all parties would be treated fairly and that these were the first steps towards a strong and everlasting peace.

This is the first phase of a 20-point plan announced by Trump last week.

Once the deal is approved by the Israeli government, a ceasefire will go into effect.

That will be followed by the release of the remaining hostages and the withdrawal of Israel troops from parts of Gaza.

The negotiations have been boosted by the personal involvement of Trump, who has put pressure not only on Hamas but also on Israel for a deal.

Despite the hopes that this could lead to the end of the war after two years, crucial details still need to be discussed, including a plan for who will govern Gaza and the future of Hamas.

Videos are beginning to circulate on social media of Palestinians in Gaza celebrating the news of the ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Night-time footage posted on Instagram by Palestinian journalist Saeed Mohamed showed a large crowd of men and women dancing to music, whistling, clapping and chanting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”) outside al-Aqsa hospital, in the central city of Deir al-Balah.

Another video by journalist Mohammed al-Haddad shows a smaller group of young men dancing on a street elsewhere in Gaza.

The world is starting to react to the news of an initial ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel.

Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, tells CNN that Trump's Truth Social post announcing the deal is "encouraging", adding: "I hope that it holds."

Senator John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat and outspoken supporter of Israel, says, "Those poor souls finally have a chance to maybe go home, and that's the first opportunity for enduring peace" according to CBS News, BBC's US partner.

Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut tells CNN that "the initial reports are hopeful".

And on the other side of the aisle, Republican Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota says he's cautiously optimistic about the deal, adding "we'll see how it actually gets implemented", CBS News reports.

Meanwhile, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US- and Israeli-backed organisation whose stated mission is to deliver aid to Gaza, shares a statement Wednesday calling the deal "welcome news".

"We are hopeful that this will create conditions on the ground that enable the needs of all Gazans to be met," the GHF says.

Image source, Getty Images

United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, says the UN will support the "full implementation" of the deal as well as increase its delivery of humanitarian aid and advance its reconstruction efforts in Gaza.

Guterres also urges all parties to obey the terms of the deal including releasing Israeli hostages, abiding by a permanent ceasefire, and immediately allowing humanitarian supplies into Gaza.

"The suffering must end," Guterres says.

"I urge all stakeholders to seize this momentous opportunity to establish a credible political path forward towards ending the occupation, recognising the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people, leading to a two-state solution to enable Israelis & Palestinians to live in peace & security."

We've received images from the third day of negotiations over the peace deal from our Gaza correspondent, Rushdi Abualouf.

They show members of the Qatari, Egyptian, Israeli and Palestinian envoys at an undisclosed location in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt earlier.

Image source, Rushdi Abualouf / BBC News

A major victory for Trump - for nowpublished at 01:21 BST

01:21 BST

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Since returning here to the White House in January, Trump has repeatedly said that peace between Israel and Hamas is around the corner.

Month after month, that peace eluded him. Gaza, along with Ukraine, continued to be a thorn in his side, even when he proudly claimed to have ended wars around the world, from Thailand to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

If the deal that Trump posted about earlier holds, and the fighting stops, the administration will almost certainly point to this as the crowning foreign policy achievement of his second term so far - perhaps even more than the airstrikes which they say ended Iran's nuclear programme.

We still don't have many contours of the deal so far, other than that the hostages will be released and Israel will pull troops back to an "agreed upon line".

This announcement has become, by far, the biggest news story in Washington, and in the next hours and days we are likely to hear more details from Trump and his team.

Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent

A senior Palestinian official told the BBC that the ceasefire will go into effect immediately after approval by the Israeli government around 14:00 Jerusalem time (12:00 BST), adding that Israel will allow 400 aid trucks to enter Gaza daily during the first five days, with the number to increase gradually in later stages.

The official said the “yellow line” on the Trump plan map has been adjusted to reflect Israel’s security requirements and Hamas’s need to secure the release of Israeli hostages.

He added that Israel rejected the inclusion of senior Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti in the exchange deal, despite Hamas’s insistence on his release.