Crowds of Palestinians chanted and embraced as news spread that a ceasefire and captive release deal had been reached between Israel and Hamas aimed at ending more than 15 months of war in the Palestinian territory.

Mediator Qatar announced the agreement on Wednesday, but Israel cautioned that several points “remain unresolved” that it hoped would be finalised shortly.

But celebrations were already under way in Gaza, crowds of people hugging and taking photos to mark the announcement.

“I can’t believe that this nightmare of more than a year is finally coming to an end. We have lost so many people, we’ve lost everything,” said Randa Sameeh, a 45-year-old displaced from Gaza City to the Nuseirat Camp in the centre of the territory.

“We need a lot of rest. As soon as the truce begins, I will go to the cemetery to visit my brother and family members. We buried them in Deir el-Balah cemetery without proper graves. We will build them new graves and write their names on them.”

Outside Deir el-Balah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where so many of the war’s casualties have been taken, hundreds of Palestinians gathered to chant, sing and wave flags.

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At one point, a member of the crowd and a journalist in body armour were raised on people’s shoulders to conduct an interview above the mass of elated Palestinians.

As an ambulance squeezed through the crowd to reach the hospital, smiling men and women alike chanted “Allahu akbar”, or “God is greatest” in Arabic, and waved the Palestinian flag.

Young children, some looking confused by the commotion, gathered outside the hospital too, milling between adults and watching as they gave interviews to the waiting media.

A gaggle of young boys in the centre of the crowd led a popular pro-resistance chant as adults filmed the moment on their phones.

In Gaza City, 27-year-old Abdul Karim said, “I feel joy, despite everything we’ve lost.”

“I can’t believe I will finally see my wife and two children again,” he added. “They left for the south almost a year ago. I hope they allow the displaced to return quickly.”

Large crowds also gathered in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, with young men surfing through the crowd on the shoulders of others beating drums and cheering.

The deal announced on Wednesday is expected to halt the fighting in the devastated Palestinian territory and see captives held in Gaza released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Israel’s war in Gaza has killed at least 46,707 Palestinians and wounded 110,265 since October 7, 2023. At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day and more than 200 were taken captive.

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