Palestinian families waited anxiously for hours for Israeli authorities to free 90 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons after Hamas released three Israeli captives held in Gaza on the first day of a ceasefire deal.
Palestinians in Gaza are returning to their homes and awaiting the delivery of much-needed food and medical assistance after Israeli forces finally ended their 15-month-long bombardment of the besieged enclave.
The first of a promised 600 aid trucks that will enter Gaza each day has arrived, as part of the first phase of the ceasefire.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 46,913 Palestinians and wounded 110,750 since October 7, 2023.
At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day and more than 200 were taken captive.
- Ceasefire brings sense of hope in Gaza – how have people endured?
There is a sense of hope in Gaza with the ceasefire, coming after nearly 47,000 people were killed by Israeli attacks and Western-supplied weapons.
Palestinians are now trying to rebuild their lives and homes, many of them destroyed by the bombing.
- The Gaza family killed just minutes before the ceasefire
The ceasefire in Gaza was supposed to start at 8.30am (06:30 GMT) on Sunday.
The al-Qidra family had endured 15 months of Israeli attacks. They had been displaced more than once and were living in a tent.
Their relatives had been among the more than 46,900 Palestinians killed by Israel.
But the al-Qidras had survived. And they wanted to go home now that the ceasefire was imminent.
Ahmed al-Qidra packed his seven children onto a donkey cart and headed to eastern Khan Younis. It was finally safe to travel – the bombing should have stopped.
But the family did not know that the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas had been delayed.
They did not know that, even in those additional few hours, Israeli aircraft were still flying over the skies of Gaza, ready to drop their bombs.
The explosion was loud. Ahmed’s wife Hanan heard it. She had stayed behind at a relative’s home in the centre of the city, organising their belongings, planning on joining her husband and children a few hours later.
“The blast felt like it hit my heart,” Hanan said. She instinctively knew that something had happened to her children, whom she had only just said goodbye to.