| There was still violence in Gaza yesterday: an Israeli air strike reportedly hit a house in Gaza City, and killed three people. But for the first time in a long time, the prospect of at least a period of calm appeared concrete – and was then confirmed. The outline of the plan that emerged was almost identical to the framework first put forward by the Biden White House in May last year. The phased return of some of the remaining hostages over a six-week period will come in exchange for the release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. The last bone of contention, according to Benjamin Netanyahu, is whether Israel will be able to veto the release of “mass murderers who are symbols of terror”. Meanwhile, aid flows into Gaza will be massively increased, while Israel will begin a phased pull-back of its troops and allow civilians greater freedom of movement within Gaza. This explainer has more details on those terms. And in this piece, Peter Beaumont details how the deal was done. Here’s what else we know. What will the deal mean for Palestinian civilians? The deal will bring an end to Israel’s long and brutal siege of Gaza, at least for now. The territory’s health ministry puts the death toll at almost 47,000, with about half women, children or older people. A recent study published in the Lancet suggested those figures could be significantly lower than the real total. Those who have survived are living in truly desperate circumstances. This piece by Emma Graham-Harrison details some of the staggering impact, including details of the bombing campaign and mass demolitions that wiped out whole neighbourhoods and the devastating impact on education: 534 of 564 school buildings have been damaged or destroyed. Now the deal says that there will be a major surge in aid, and Egypt said last night that work was under way to reopen the Rafah crossing. About 600 trucks a day are due to be allowed in, while Israel will also allow wounded Palestinians to leave the territory for treatment. And about 200,000 tents and 60,000 temporary homes will also be brought into Gaza. In this piece, Malak A Tantesh and Jason Burke heard from civilians in Gaza as they celebrated the news. “The best day in my life and the life of the Gaza people,” said Abed Radwan, a Palestinian father of three. “Thank God. Thank God. People are crying here. They don’t believe it’s true.” What does it mean for the hostages? Hundreds of people, including the families and friends of Israeli hostages, gathered in Tel Aviv last night. A group representing the families, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, welcomed the promise that some would be released but noted: “We will stand by the families until the very last hostage is brought home.” And Sharone Lifschitz, a London-based filmmaker whose father, Oded, is being held hostage, told AP: “I can’t wait to see them coming back to their families. I’m so desperate to see them if by some miracle my father has survived.” Lorenzo Tondo has more on the families’ reactions here. Under the terms of the deal, 33 hostages – excluding male soldiers and other men under 50 – will be freed during the first phase: three female hostages will be released on day one, followed by another four on day seven, and then three more every seven days until 14 are released in the last week. Their identities have not yet been publicised, but Reuters reported that two Americans, Keith Siegel and Sagui Dekel-Chen, are on the list. Meanwhile, lists of Palestinian prisoners are due to be published after the Israeli security cabinet approves the deal, with a question still hanging over that veto condition. And after 16 days, talks will begin on a second phase in which the remaining hostages, and the bodies of those who have died, would be returned to Israel. There are thought to be about 94 hostages still in Gaza, with estimates that between a third and half have died. Where does Hamas stand as the ceasefire deal is agreed? Hamas has been decimated by Israel’s attacks, with thousands of its fighters killed and many of its senior leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the October 7 attacks, also dead. Many of Hamas’s tunnels under Gaza have also been destroyed or cleared by Israeli forces. Last summer, Israel claimed to have killed 17,000 of an estimated 25,000-30,000 militants, although those figures have been questioned because of the difficulty in differentiating fighters from civilians, and detailed IDF reports recorded by crisis mapping group ACLED list 8,500 militant fatalities. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Tuesday that Hamas had been able to recruit almost as many militants as Israel had killed, saying that Israel’s approach had created “a recipe for an enduring insurgency and perpetual war”. The group’s chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, claimed last night that Israel had failed to achieve its goals in Gaza. He added: “On behalf of all the victims, every drop of blood spilt and every tear of pain and oppression, we say: we will not forget, and we will not forgive.” Where does the deal leave Netanyahu and his political allies? | 