A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas goes into effect as families wait for the hostages to be released

The long-awaited ceasefire Between Israel and Hamas It officially started, after a last-minute delay of nearly three hours. The fighting continued beyond an initially set deadline of 8:30 a.m. (1:30 a.m. Eastern) as the IDF said Hamas had failed to provide the names of the first three hostages scheduled to be released, according to the terms of the agreement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office later confirmed that a list of names had been submitted and that the ceasefire would go into effect as of 11:15 a.m. local time (4:15 a.m. ET).

Now, families in Israel are waiting for the release of hostages held by Hamas for more than 15 months. The exchange is scheduled to begin at 9am ET, 4pm local time on Sunday.

The first phase of the ceasefire stipulates that Hamas will release 33 hostages within a period of six weeks. The draft, seen by CBS News, said they included women, children and hostages over the age of 50.

The plan states that three hostages will be returned alive on the first day. Four hostages will be released on the seventh day, and the remaining 26 hostages will be released over the next five weeks.

The pause — the second in the 15-month war — was achieved through combined pressure from President-elect Donald Trump and the outgoing administration of President Biden.

On Wednesday, Biden and the Qatari prime minister separately announced the deal after a week of intense negotiations mediated by Qatar, the United States and Egypt.

In a A rare encounter During the Jewish Sabbath, the full Israeli Cabinet voted to approve the deal that would begin with the exchange of several hostages held in Gaza for a number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.

The approval sparked a flurry of activity and a new wave of emotions as relatives of the hostages wondered whether the hostages would be returned alive or dead.

How will the hostages be released?

Under the negotiated agreement, the ceasefire will take place in three stages.

The first phase of the ceasefire will last 42 days, and negotiations on the more difficult second phase are scheduled to begin in just over two weeks.

After the six weeks of the first phase, the Israeli security cabinet will decide how to proceed.

In total, Hamas will release 33 hostages during the first phase. Hamas will begin releasing the hostages on the first day, initially returning three of them to Israel, according to the draft seen by CBS News. On the seventh day, Hamas will release four hostages. After that, Hamas will release three hostages every seven days, starting with the living, then moving on to returning the bodies of those who died.

They are expected to be released The youngest hostageKfir Bibas, whose family celebrated his second birthday on Saturday. The child became a symbol throughout Israel of helplessness over the plight of the hostages.

During each exchange, Israel will release Palestinian prisoners after the hostages arrive safely.

Biden said on Wednesday that Americans would be among the hostages released in the first phase, but he did not specify any names or when they would be released.

In the first phase, Israel will release at least 1,700 Palestinian prisoners, including 1,167 Gazans who did not participate in the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023 that sparked the war. All women and children under the age of 19 from Gaza held by Israel will be released during this phase.

The remaining hostages held by Hamas, including Israeli soldiers, are scheduled to be released in a second phase that will be negotiated during the first phase. Hamas said it would not release the remaining prisoners without a permanent ceasefire and complete Israeli withdrawal.

When will the fighting stop?

During the first phase of the ceasefire, Israeli forces are scheduled to withdraw to a buffer zone approximately one kilometer wide inside Gaza along its border with Israel.

In a post on the website

The Israeli military later said that Palestinians would not be able to cross the Netzarim Corridor, which runs through central Gaza, during the first seven days of the ceasefire, and warned Palestinians not to approach Israeli forces.

Despite the warnings and uncertainty, anticipation was high.

“The first thing I will do is go and inspect my house,” Muhammad Mahdi, a father of two who was displaced from the Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City, told the Associated Press. He also looks forward to seeing his family in southern Gaza, but “is still worried that one of us might be martyred before we can meet.”

The Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, killed nearly 1,200 people and left about 250 captive. There are still approximately 100 hostages in Gaza.

Israel responded with an attack that killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not distinguish between civilians and militants, but says women and children make up more than half of the dead.