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A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is due to begin on Sunday morning, ending 15 months of brutal war in Gaza and paving the way for the release of hostages still held by Palestinian militant groups in the disbanded enclave.

The six-week cease-fire — the first phase of a multiphase agreement that was struck by US-led mediators last week after months of failed attempts to reach a deal – will take effect at 08.30 local time (06.30 GMT).

If the ceasefire holds, Hamas will later on Sunday release three of the 98 hostages it is still holding in Gaza. In exchange, Israel will release 90 Palestinian prisoners.

But in a sign of the fragile nature of the arrangements, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said nearly an hour before the deal was due to begin that it would not begin unless Hamas provided Israel with the names of the hostages. will be released on Sunday.

Hamas said in a statement a few minutes ago that it had reached a ceasefire, and that the delay in delivering the names was due to “technical reasons in the field”.

The multiphase deal offers the hope of an end – and possibly an end – to the bloodiest war in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has left Gaza in ruins, consumed Israeli society, and brought the Middle East to the brink of an all-out war.

The fighting was sparked by Hamas’s surprise October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, in which the militants killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials, and took an additional 250 hostages in the deadliest. day for the Jews since the Holocaust.

Israel responded with a devastating attack on Gaza, which killed more than 46,000 people, according to Palestinian officials, as well as expelling most of the 2.3 million people in the coastal enclave and sparking a humanitarian disaster.

After more than half a year of failed attempts to broker a cease-fire, mediators announced last week that Israel and Hamas had agreed to a three-phase deal, initially set out by US President Joe Biden in May last year.

The first phase includes a six-week truce, during which Hamas will release a total of 33 hostages – including children, women, the sick and the elderly – in exchange for nearly 1,900 Palestinian prisoners.

During the first phase of the agreement, displaced Palestinians will be allowed to return to their homes, including in northern Gaza. There was also a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and a large influx of humanitarian aid to the enclave.

If the agreement is implemented as planned, on day 16 of the first phase, Israel and Hamas will begin negotiating the details of the second phase of the deal, in which the remaining surviving hostages will be released in exchange for hundreds more Palestinian prisoners. , the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and a permanent end to the war.

The final phase will include the return of the remaining bodies of the hostages who died, as well as the start of the reconstruction of Gaza, under the supervision of Egypt, Qatar and the UN.

However, questions remain over whether the deal will be implemented in full, with Netanyahu under intense pressure from far-right members of his coalition to continue the war at the end of the first phase of the deal.

On Saturday night, far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said his Jewish Power party would leave the government in protest against the deal, reducing Netanyahu’s 120-seat majority. Israel’s parliament in only two seats.

Ben-Gvir’s ultranationalist ally, finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, has also threatened to withdraw his Religious Zionist party from the government if the war does not continue after the first phase of the agreement. If he does so, it will deprive Netanyahu of his parliamentary majority.