People gathered in Khan Yunis around the television screen as news that an agreement between Israel and Hamas had been reached spread, waiting for an official announcement.
Negotiators reached a phased deal on Wednesday to end the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas after 15 months of conflict that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and inflamed Middle East tensions.
READ: Israel, Hamas agree deal for Gaza truce, hostage release
The deal includes the gradual release of hostages captured by Hamas-led militants during their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Israeli troops invaded Gaza after Hamas-led gunmen broke through security barriers and burst into Israeli border-area communities on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 soldiers and civilians and abducting over 250 foreign and Israeli hostages.
Israel's air and ground war in Gaza has since killed over 46,000 people, according to Gaza health ministry figures, and left the coastal enclave a wasteland of rubble with hundreds of thousands of displaced people struggling through the winter cold in tents and makeshift shelters.
(Production: Hatem khaled, Mohammed slem, Fadi shana, Yazan Kalach)