President Trump says Israel and Hamas have reached "first phase" of a deal

US President Donald Trump says the "first phase" of a deal has been agreed between Israel and Hamas.

Donald Trump announced the news on social media.

BBC News correspondents have said that this is a significant moment during the war which has lasted for two years, but that important details still need to be worked out before there can be a lasting end to the fighting.

There was a ceasefire - a pause in the fighting - earlier this year after a previous deal between Israel and Hamas, but it only lasted for two months.

What has just happened?

Representatives of Israel, Hamas, and Arab countries, who are helping negotiations, have met in Egypt.

The meetings have been led by the US government to discuss how to bring fighting between Israel and Hamas to an end.

Now President Trump says they have reached the first phase of a deal, with Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners being released, Israeli military forces pulling back within parts of Gaza, and aid going into Gaza.

How have people reacted?

There have been some celebrations in both Gaza and Israel.

Mousa, a doctor in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, told the BBC over WhatsApp on Thursday: "I hope the coming days bring us happy news and that we and our loved ones live in safety."

"We have lost a lot during the two years of war. The Gaza Strip is destroyed. A difficult time still awaits us, but the important thing is we hope to be safe."

Aid coordinator Eyad Amawi said he felt a mix of happiness and sadness.

"We believe and don't believe. We have mixed feelings, between happiness and sadness, memories - everything is mixed" he said.

In Tel Aviv, in Israel, the mother and sister of an Israeli hostage Matan Zangauker lit fireworks at the city's Hostages Square in celebration of the news.

Former British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari celebrated with another freed hostage Romi Gonen, reciting prayers of gratitude, then toasting "L'chaim", meaning "to life". She has been campaigning for the release of her friends, twins Gali and Ziv Berman.

World leaders have given their reactions to the deal.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has welcomed the agreement and called for aid to be allowed enter Gaza after months of Israel's blockade and siege of the Palestinian territory.

"I welcome the news that a deal has been reached on the first stage of President Trump's peace plan for Gaza," Starmer said in a statement.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said, adding that the UN would support the "full implementation" of the deal, as well as increase its delivery of aid and its reconstruction efforts in Gaza.

David Satterfield, former US Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues described the deal as "quite an extraordinary first step"

"But to have true peace, a lasting resolution in Gaza and a true end to conflict there, that's going to take a lot more work," he told the BBC.

"It is the next phase that is more problematic and difficult"