Gaza ceasefire begins after delay as Hamas names first Israeli hostages to be freed | BBC News

The long-awaited ceasefire in the war in Gaza has come into force, after a three-hour delay.

Hamas has named the first three Israeli hostages it plans to free first later today - 31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher and dual British-Israeli Emily Damari, 28, who were kidnapped from their kibbutz, as well as 24-year-old Romi Gonen, who was taken from the Supernova Festival.

The ceasefire was due to start at 08:30 (06:30 GMT) on Sunday but was delayed last-minute after Hamas failed to give Israel the list of the three hostages in time - Hamas says it was due to "technical field reasons".

Up until the ceasefire came into force, Israel continued to carry out strikes on Gaza, with 13 people reported by the Hamas-run civil defence agency to have been killed since the truce was meant to start.

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