The announcement of an agreement to phase one of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas has brought great joy to many people in Israel and Gaza.
The two parties signed the deal in Egypt and it is awaiting ratification from Israel's cabinet, 24 hours after which it would officially start.
Once the ceasefire gets underway the Israeli military would withdraw outside of major cities in Gaza to allow for hostages to be released on Monday or Tuesday.
In return, Hamas said 250 prisoners serving life sentences and 1,700 prisoners from the Gaza Strip who were arrested after October 7 would be released, in addition to the release of all children and women.
Israel said high-profile political leader Marwan Barghouti, and the bodies of Hamas leaders Yahya and Mohammad Sinwar were not part of that exchange.
Israeli fire continued throughout the day in Gaza, with a residential building in the al-Sabra neighbourhood in Gaza City targeted, trapping several people under the rubble.
It brought the day's death toll to 29, according to local media.
In Hostage Square in Tel Aviv on Thursday, the mood was buoyant in the hours after the deal was announced.
Hundreds of Israelis gathered to celebrate the moment, singing and dancing throughout a torrential downpour.
Crowds surrounded Dani Miran — the father of hostage Omri Miran, who is believed to still be alive — as he arrived in the square.
"I feel I am floating in the sky, there's nothing more to say, but it is a very good feeling," Mr Miran told the ABC.
He thought the deal would hold up.
"Of course it is different than other times, there is responsibility being taken — from [US] President [Donald] Trump, Islamic countries, and also the government of Israel," he said.
"All of them are responsible for this deal, and it will be a success this time."
Also in the crowd was Udi Goren, whose cousin Tal Haimin was murdered by Hamas, with his remains still held in Gaza.
"When you go through the process of grief, you start with shock, then you go to denial, and then we're stuck," he told the ABC.
"We have been stuck on October 7th — as long as there's no body, as long as there's no certainty, we're just stuck in this phase.
"And normally, if this happens to someone, you need to go see a therapist, because this is wrong, but the circumstances have been such that we have just been stuck."
Mr Goren said there was a clear reason it had taken this long to reach a deal, and there needed to be further work to find a lasting peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians.
"The reason there was war is political, the reason the war [was] prolonged was political," he argued.
"Man-made problems have man-made solutions — to say that this is unsolvable, it's childish at best, or ignorant at worst.
"What it needs … it's the political power that goes into it right now, like President Trump has brought in, and then it needs a lot of determination and a lot [of] will and a lot of money that would back this plan up in the long-term."
Standing in the centre of the square, hugging her daughter Ella, was Vered Goldwasser Bloch.
"I'm excited as hell and also very scared because I don't really believe the hostages are coming back until I see them," she said.
"But I saw the families, the hostage families, they were so excited. So I said they allowed themselves to be excited, so it can be."
Palestinians hoping to return home
In Gaza the sense of elation was also widespread.
Crowds were gathered in front of a hospital and groups of children chanted in excitement.
After two years of war, death, destruction and displacement, Palestinians finally felt hope it could soon come to an end.
"I started crying. I was so happy I almost fell off my chair," Umm Salim Hamdouna, 55, told the ABC.
"I couldn't move. Everyone around me was asking, 'What's wrong with you?' I said, 'I don't know.' When I heard people cheering, I started shouting too."
Alaa Mansour, 59, who lives with a disability, said he was overjoyed by the news.
"My spirits lifted. I couldn't even speak a few days ago, but since hearing it, I can talk again, and I feel better," he said.
Palestinians hope the ceasefire will finally allow them to return to their homes, or what was left of them.
"Life here is unbearable. The rain, the lack of food and water; everything is difficult, and living costs are high," Mr Mansour said.
"We hope this peace, this truce, allows us to return. I just want to see my home and my children again; they're not with me now."
Umm Salim Hamdouna hoped the negotiations hold so she too can return home.
"God will help us. If they are sincere and if Trump stands with us Palestinians," she said.
"These past years have been dreadful, bitter ones. We've felt anger, hunger, fear, and terror, all at once. We hope he stands with us so we can go back to our homes.
"We hope our children can have a peaceful future, to live freely. We don't know how long we'll live, but I pray they have a better life than ours and don't experience the same pain and bitterness."
But with all the happiness, many were dreading the whole deal could fall apart.
Fatima Abu Saada, 53, lamented that the ceasefire was two years too late.
"They say there's a truce, and everyone's happy. But deep inside, I'm not. … I'm angry. Why couldn't this have happened before my husband was killed, before my life was destroyed?" she said.
"It should have been done from the start, not after two years. Our homes are gone, our families are gone, our children have died.
"Who will make up for our losses? Who will care for us? We've been abandoned here for years. Who even asked about us?
"I don't believe it anymore. They've been lying to us for years, mocking us as if we've been sedated.
"There's no future here. None. What future is there in Gaza?"
Ms Hamdouna and Mr Mansour also shared the worry the war would continue anyway.
"I fear what's coming. I'm afraid they'll take hostages again and stop everything," Ms Hamdouna said.
"I deeply hope the bloodshed stops. It's been years. Every day, we pray to God that it will be the last," Mr Mansour said.
"I fear the Israelis will force us into exile again, that this agreement won't truly be honoured. They might let us return, only to bomb us again and finish us off."
Pressure on Netanyahu must continue
Max Kresch in Jerusalem, part of a group of Israeli reservists refusing to keep serving in the war, shared that fear, but was cautiously optimistic.
"Until we've seen them [the hostages] come back, it'll be very difficult to really celebrate," he said, adding that people had been disappointed in the past when ceasefire deals fell through because of the Israeli government's "refusal to end the war".
"I am optimistic and hopeful that this really is going to be the end of the war, that we're going to get all the hostages back, that we'll be able to start rebuilding, both here and also hopefully in Gaza as well," he said.
Mr Kresch gave credit to Mr Trump for putting pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adding that this could earn him a Nobel Peace Prize, but said it needed to continue until the deal was done.
"Don't let up on this insistence of holding Israel accountable, holding Netanyahu accountable and our government accountable for holding up our end of the deal, for really ending this war, for bringing us towards a solution of the conflict, which is possible," he said.
"There are people that need to take accountability and also to hold us and the Palestinian leadership, whatever leadership that will be, accountable to goals that we set for whether it's five years, 10 years, 20 years down the line."
He said the international community needed to lead that effort, holding the Israeli government to account, especially if an election were to be held after the hostage release.
"I don't know how optimistic I can be about our own systems holding these people accountable, when these are the people at the heads of these systems, at the judicial system, at the systems of authority that we have," he said.
Ultimately, Mr Kresch said Israelis needed to heal after a "severe trauma".
"As a society, we have a lot of work to do together, and we're certainly going to need a unifying leadership to help us rebuild after this whole horrible experience that we've been through," he said.
"All segments of our society, that means religious, secular, right-wing, left-wing, Jewish, Arab, Christian, atheist, whatever.
"And also acknowledging the fact that there are Palestinians that exist, that are going to continue to exist.
"And if we want to have a future where we don't send our kids to wars, we need to start actually interacting with that reality."
