Six hostages freed by Hamas have been reuniting with their families following their earlier release
The release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners and detainees has been delayed, the BBC's Mark Lowen reports
Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert were released in Nuseirat, central Gaza, while Avera Mengistu and Tal Shoham were freed in Rafah, southern Gaza
Hisham al-Sayed, whose release was conducted in private, has been accompanied to an Israeli hospital by his family
Hamas has shared a video showing two Israeli hostages watching today's handover from inside a car while pleading Benjamin Netanyahu to bring them home as well
Watch: Six Israeli hostages freed in Gaza
Davide Ghiglione
Reporting from Tel Aviv
Image source, reutThere are cheers in Hostages Square, Tel Aviv, as people watch a feed of two hostages being handed over to the Red Cross.
Several people are holding up pictures of the hostages that have been freed.
Tal Shoham was seen saying a few words as he was paraded on stage by Hamas during his release
Two of the six hostages to be released today are now being handed over to Red Cross officials in Rafah, southern Gaza.
The two hostages are Avera Mengistu, who was seized in 2014 after crossing into Gaza, and Tal Shoham, 40, who was taken from Kibbutz Be'eri on 7 October 2023.
Four other hostages are expected to be released at Nuseirat in central Gaza today as well.
Image source, ReutersCrowds have also been gathering in Nuseirat, which is the where the second hostage handover will be happening today in Gaza.
Nuseirat is five kilometres (3.1 miles) north-east of Deir al-Balah, a city in the centre of the Gaza Strip.
Image source, Hostages and Missing Families ForumIsraeli hostage Omer Shem Tov, 22, was taken from the Nova Festival on 7 October 2023. His family say they expect him to be released on Saturday
Of the six living hostages due for release today, four of them were captured during the attack by Hamas against Israel on 7 October 2023. The other two hostages have been held in Gaza for a decade.
The six are:
Eliya Cohen: 27 years old, he and and his girlfriend initially hid from the Hamas attackers on 7 October in a shelter, but he was discovered, and driven away. In June, Hamas footage was released showing the moment Eliya and others were taken prisoner.
Omer Shem Tov: 22 years old, he initially made a getaway in his car but was captured when he tried to rescue his friends, Maya and Itai Regev. All three were taken captive - the Regev siblings were released in November 2023, but they say they had been with Omer in captivity.
Tal Shoham: 40 years old, he was taken from Kibbutz Be'eri. His wife, Adi, their two young children, and his mother-in-law, Dr Shosham Haran, were also captured but released in November 2023. Dr Haran's husband, Avshalom, was killed during the 7 October attack.
Omer Wenkert: A 23 restaurant manager. He sent a message to his family to say he was going to a safe shelter but then lost contact with them. His family say they saw Hamas video footage of Omer, including a photo of him handcuffed and wearing only underwear.
Hisham al-Sayed: A Bedouin Arab Israeli who has been held in Gaza since 2015. Hamas say he and Avera Mengistu are soldiers, but Israeli documents seen by Human Rights Watch show that both are civilians who were exempted from military service. Both crossed into Gaza on their own. In June 2022 Hamas released a video showing al-Sayed in captivity.
Avera Mengistu: An Ethiopian-Israeli, Mengistu was captured by Hamas in 2014. In January Hamas released a short undated video clip of a man who mumbled in Hebrew: "I am the captive Avera Mengistu. For how much longer will I remain in captivity with my friends." The Mengistu family confirmed his identity, the Free Avera campaign told the BBC in 2023.
Image source, ReutersA convoy of Red Cross vehicles has just arrived in Rafah in southern Gaza where a number of hostages will be released this morning.
A stage has been set up and crowds of armed and masked Hamas members are gathered at the location.
Davide Ghiglione
Reporting from Tel Aviv
People are starting to gather now at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, watching live news footage from Gaza on a large screen and waiting anxiously as six living hostages are due to be handed over today from Hamas to Israel as part of the ceasefire deal.
Sebastian Usher
Middle East analyst, in Jerusalem
The increasingly stage-managed handovers in Gaza by Hamas of Israeli hostages - both alive and dead - has prompted widespread criticism, with Israel denouncing the events as cruel propaganda
Each week, Hamas fighters and members of other armed factions in various locations across Gaza have lined up in ranks facing a platform with large posters extolling Hamas leaders and denouncing Israel's.
Red Cross representatives sign papers on the stage with a masked Hamas fighter, who then stamps them before the hostages emerge from a car amid heavily armed fighters and are then conducted up on stage - where they have been made to speak before being transferred into the care of the Red Cross.
Image source, ReutersThis was the moment three Israeli hostages were paraded on stage in central Gaza, before their release earlier this month
Despite the growing criticism, Hamas has persisted with this formula. Its key aim would seem to be to make a show not just of its survival but its ability to still control events to some extent inside Gaza.
The formalities in the process would seem to be intended by Hamas to give the impression that it is not acting as a terror group but as a responsible governing authority in Gaza.
This has been belied by the state of some of the hostages - and the stories that have emerged of what they have endured. But Hamas has seemed intent on persisting with this formula, even when it is coffins that they are handing over.
That event prompted the UN human rights chief Volker Turk to denounce the 'parading of bodies' as abhorrent and cruel.
Image source, ReutersWe've just received these pictures from Rafah, in southern Gaza, where Hamas will be handing over hostages today as part of the ceasefire deal with Israel.
People are gathering to watch the handover, with armed and masked Hamas members standing alongside civilians and children.
The hostage release is also expected to take place at Nuseirat in central Gaza.
Image source, Reuters
Image source, PA MediaShiri Bibas and her two small children was kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October, 2023
The family of Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas says a new body handed over by Hamas on Friday is hers.
"Our Shiri was murdered in captivity and has now returned home," the family said in a statement. Israel's forensic officials who have been examining the body are yet to confirm the identification.
Remains handed over by Hamas on Thursday which it said were that of Shiri Bibas turned out to be an unidentified woman, Israel said.
The Bibas family said: "For 16 months, we sought certainty, and now that we have it, there is no comfort in it, but we hope for the beginning of a closure."
Hamas previously said the mother and her two children were killed in an Israeli air strike.
Earlier, a senior Hamas official confirmed to the BBC the handover of the new body from Hamas to the Red Cross had taken place on Friday evening.
On 15 January, a ceasefire and hostage release deal was announced between Israel and Hamas.
The ceasefire formally began on 19 January at 11:15 local time (09:15 GMT) - it marked the start of an initial six week phase which would see 33 Israeli hostages freed in return for about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Gaza in Israeli jails.
Other agreed elements of phase one included Israeli forces leaving populated areas and hundreds of aid lorries to be permitted into Gaza.
Stage two is aimed at establishing a permanent ceasefire - with remaining living hostages in Gaza to be exchanged for more prisoners and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told a press conference on Tuesday that negotiations on phase two “will happen this week,” the Reuters news agency and Israeli media has reported.
The third and final stage should see the return of all bodies of dead hostages as well as the reconstruction of Gaza.
Welcome and thanks for joining our live page on the latest in the Middle East.
Today we're expecting six living hostages to be released by Hamas as phase one of the ceasefire deal between the Palestinian armed group and Israel continues.
Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed have been named by Hamas as being among those to be returned today.
They were seized in 2014 and 2015 respectively after they crossed into Gaza on their own. Four others have been named by family members.
They are Omer Shem Tov, 22, Eliya Cohen, 27, and Omer Wenkert, 23, who were each taken from the Nova Festival on 7 October 2023, as well as 40-year-old Tal Shoam who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be'eri.
Israel has said it will free all women and those under the age of 19 arrested since last October.
We’ll be closely monitoring events over the next few hours so stick with us for the latest.