Celebrations after Hamas and Israel agree first phase of deal

Trump says final hostages could be free by 'Monday or Tuesday', Palestinians call for US to guarantee permanent end to war

- Jason Burke Seham Tantesh Gaza William Christou Jerusalem

Israelis and Palestinians celebrated last night as Hamas and Israel's government began preparations to implement a ceasefire deal that promises a durable end to a bloody two-year conflict that has killed tens of thousands, destabilised much of the Middle East and prompted protests around the world.

In Gaza, there was joy but much anxiety. Many expressed the fear that the new deal would collapse, bringing more suffering to the devastated territory. Though crowds gathered in some places to dance and sing, in many places witnesses reported muted reaction amid loud overflights by warplanes and drones.

In Israel, on a day of fast-moving and sometimes chaotic developments, hospitals prepared to receive hostages to be released by Hamas, the ruling coalition government met to sign off the new ceasefire deal, and thousands took to the streets of Tel Aviv to express joy and relief.

Donald Trump's announcement of his "peace proposal" last week triggered a frantic round of indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The US president said yesterday he hoped to go to Egypt for the signing of the new deal.

"I'm going to try and make a trip over. We're going to try and get over there, and we're working on the timing, the exact timing," Trump said at a cabinet meeting. In Israel, officials suggested that the US president was expected to visit there on Sunday.

Trump added that 48 hostages held by Hamas, of whom less than half are thought to be still alive, would be released on "Monday or Tuesday" and said that the deal had "ended the war in Gaza".

World leaders scrambled to welcome the breakthrough, even if most of Trump's broader "peace proposal" has yet to be negotiated or even explicitly acknowledged by Hamas and Israel.

There was some confusion yesterday on the timing of the first phase of the deal reflecting the general uncertainty about many of its main principles.