What do we know about the Gaza ceasefire agreement?

What  do we know about the Gaza ceasefire  agreement?
Almost the entire population  of Gaza has been displaced by the  war.
Israel and Hamas are close to  reaching a deal  that could  end the war in Gaza and  lead to the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian  prisoners.
CBS, the BBC's  American partner, has been told by Arab,  American and Israeli officials that an agreement  in principle has been reached  and that, if all goes well, will be  finalized by Israel and Hamas this  week.
It would be the most dramatic breakthrough in  the 15-month war, which began when the  Palestinian armed group Hamas attacked Israel in October  2023.
What could a ceasefire  agreement between Israel and  Hamas contain? A ceasefire agreement is expected to  end the raging war in Gaza.
It should also trigger a hostage and  prisoner exchange.
Hamas took 251 hostages  during its attack on Israel in October 2023. It still  holds 94, although Israel  estimates that only 60 are still  alive.
Israel is expected to release about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, some  held for years, in  exchange for  hostages. Why is there a war in  Gaza? How will the ceasefire  happen? The latter is expected to  be carried out in three  phases, once  the agreement is  announced.
Details are still being  finalized. Until an agreement is  finalized, it  can change. First phase
A Palestinian official told the BBC that in the first  phase, 34 hostages - expected to be civilians -  will be exchanged for Palestinian  prisoners.
Three hostages  will be released  immediately, while the rest of the exchange  will take place over six  weeks.
During this  phase, Israeli troops  will also begin  to withdraw from residential areas of  Gaza.
The Palestinian official said  that detailed negotiations for the second and third  phases will begin on the 16th day of the  ceasefire.
Second phase
In the second  phase, the remaining hostages - soldiers and reservists -  will be released, in  exchange for a number of Palestinian  prisoners. Of the 1,000 Palestinian prisoners Israel  has agreed to release, about 190 are serving sentences of 15 years or more. An Israeli official told the BBC that those convicted of murder would not be released  in the occupied West  Bank.
During this  phase, Israel  will also allow  people currently displaced in  southern Gaza to return to the  north.
Almost all of Gaza's  2.3 million residents have  been forced to  flee their homes because of the  fighting.
Third step
The third and final  phase involved the reconstruction of  Gaza, which could take  years. The Israeli official said Israeli forces would remain in a  buffer zone, or  security zone, in Gaza during any  ceasefire.
Reuters An Israeli woman holds  a poster of Israeli hostages  as she looks across the fence  toward Gaza (file  photo) Reuters
Hamas still  holds dozens of hostages,  captured during its attack on Israel in October 2023
What are the unanswered questions about the  deal? Getting to this point  took months of  careful indirect negotiations, not least because Israel and Hamas  are deeply suspicious of each  other.
Hamas wanted a complete end to the war before  releasing the hostages, which was unacceptable to  Israel.
The ceasefire  would effectively suspend the war  until its  conditions are  met. However, it is  not certain that this means the war  will end forever.
One of the main goals of Israel's war has been to destroy  Hamas' military and  governmental capabilities. Although Israel has severely damaged  them, Hamas still has some  ability to  function and  regroup.
It is  not yet clear which hostages are alive or  dead, or whether Hamas knows the whereabouts of all those who  are missing.
For its part, Hamas has demanded the release of some  prisoners, but Israel says it will not  release them. This  figure appears to include those involved in the  October 7  attacks.
It is also  unclear whether Israel  has agreed to  withdraw from the buffer zone by a certain date, or whether its presence there will be  unlimited.
Any ceasefire is likely to be  fragile.
The ceasefires between Israel and Hamas  that ended previous wars have been  plagued by  fighting and eventually  collapsed.
The timing and complexity of this ceasefire means  that even a small incident could  become a major  threat. What happened on October  7, 2023 and what happened in  Gaza? Hundreds of Hamas-led gunmen launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel,  breaching the border fence and targeting communities, police stations and  military bases.
About 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 hostages were  returned to Gaza. Hamas also  launched thousands of rockets into  Israel.
Israel responded with a massive military campaign, first by air and then  by ground invasion. Since then, Israel has attacked targets across Gaza by land, sea and air, while Hamas has  fired rockets into Israel.
The Israeli offensive has devastated Gaza and  caused a severe food  shortage, with aid struggling to reach those most in need. More than 46,600 people -  most of them civilians - have been killed  in Israeli attacks, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.

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