Israeli troops have begun withdrawing from parts of Gaza, after the Israeli government approved the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire and hostage return deal.

Under the agreement, first unveiled by Trump last week and signed following days of intense negotiations in Egypt, Israel now has 24 hours to withdraw to an agreed line within the Palestinian territory.

Hamas will then have 72 hours to release all remaining Israeli hostages being held captive in Gaza, while Israel will release hundreds of Palestinian detainees.

It comes just over two years after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken hostage.

This triggered a massive Israeli military offensive in Gaza, which has killed more than 67,100 people, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry. Its figures are seen as accurate by the UN and other international bodies.

This is what we know.

Now the agreement has been formally approved by the Israeli cabinet, a ceasefire is meant to be in effect – though reports overnight suggest Israeli air strikes continued in some areas.

Israeli ground forces have begun their withdrawal to an agreed line which, according to a spokesperson for the prime minister’s office, would leave it in control of 53% of Gaza. A map distributed by the White House last week indicates this will be the first of three stages of Israeli withdrawal.

The Israeli military said on Friday that troops were in the midst of “adjusting operational positions”.

Once this withdrawal is complete, a 72-hour countdown will begin for Hamas to release all 20 hostages who are believed to still be alive. The return of the bodies of the 28 deceased hostages would follow, though it is unclear how long that could take.

Israel will then release about 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences in Israeli jails and 1,700 detainees from Gaza, a Palestinian source told the BBC. Their identities are currently unclear, but a list submitted by Hamas before the agreement was reached included high-profile figures serving multiple life sentences for deadly attacks on Israelis.

One of the most high-profile prisoners, Marwan Barghouti, will not be released as part of the swap, according to an Israeli spokesperson.

Israel will also return the bodies of 15 Gazans for the remains of each Israeli hostage, according to Trump’s plan.

Hundreds of lorries carrying humanitarian aid will also start entering Gaza. A famine was declared in part of the territory for the first time back in August by UN-backed experts, who said that more than half a million people were facing “catastrophic” conditions characterised by “starvation, destitution and death”.

Israel has repeatedly denied that there is starvation in the territory.

Trump’s plan specified that 600 lorry loads would be delivered each day, but Palestinian sources said there would initially be a daily minimum of 400, with the number increasing gradually after that.

A multinational force of around 200 troops overseen by the US military will monitor the Gaza ceasefire, according to a senior US official.

The force’s makeup is likely to include troops from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. The official said their role would be to oversee and observe the ceasefire and “make sure there are no violations or incursions”.

A second senior US official said no US forces would be on the ground in Gaza.

If completed, the first phase of Trump’s 20-point plan would be followed by negotiations over the details of the later phases – but many of these points could be hard to reach an agreement on.

The proposal, which you can read in full here, says that if it is agreed by both sides, the war would “immediately end”.

It says Gaza would be demilitarised and all “military, terror and offensive infrastructure” would be destroyed.

It also says Gaza would be initially governed by a temporary transitional committee of Palestinian technocrats – supervised by a “Board of Peace” headed and chaired by Trump and involving former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Governance of the Strip would eventually be handed over to the Palestinian Authority – which administers the West Bank – once it has undergone reforms.

Hamas – the armed group that has run the territory since 2007 – would play no future role in its governance, directly or indirectly, according to the plan.

Hamas members would be offered amnesty if they committed to peaceful co-existence, or would be provided safe passage to another country.

No Palestinians would be forced to leave Gaza and those who wished to leave would be free to return.

A “Trump economic development plan to rebuild and energise Gaza” would be created by a panel of experts.

There are likely to be multiple points of contention during the negotiations over later phases of the deal.

Hamas has previously refused to lay down its weapons, saying it would only do so once a Palestinian state had been established.

The group also made no mention of disarming in its initial response to the plan last weekend, fuelling speculation that its position had not changed.

And though Israel has agreed to Trump’s plan in full, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to push back on the Palestinian Authority being involved in a post-war Gaza, even as he stood on the podium next to its president last week.

Hamas has also said it expects to have some future role in Gaza as part of “a unified Palestinian movement”.

Another sticking point is the extent of Israeli troop withdrawal. Israel says its first withdrawal will see it retaining control of around 53% of Gaza. The White House plan indicates further withdrawals to around 40% and then 15%.

That final stage would be a “security perimeter” that would “remain until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat”.

The wording here is vague and gives no clear timeline for full Israeli withdrawal – something Hamas is likely to want clarity on.