STORY: Palestinians in Gaza celebrated as a ceasefire deal finally took effect on Sunday morning, after a nearly three-hour delay.

The sound of singing and cheering replaced that of fighting and bombing of the 15-month-old war that has devastated the enclave, and brought seismic political change to the Middle East.

Israel blamed Hamas for holding up the ceasefire, saying the militant group had failed to name the first three hostages to be released under their agreement.

Hamas said there were "technical" reasons for the delay, but did not give details.

A Palestinian source said continued Israeli air and ground bombardments made it physically difficult to send the list to mediators.

Two hours after the initial deadline, Hamas announced it had sent the list of hostage names and Israeli officials confirmed receipt.

Israel was still striking Gaza up to about half an hour before the new ceasefire deadline at 11:15am local time, according to residents.

Palestinian medics said the attacks killed more than a dozen people during the three hours of delay.

Israel's military said it had carried out air and artillery strikes against what it called "terror targets."

As calm returned to the coastal enclave, rows of aid trucks were lined up along the Rafah border in Egypt, ahead of its reopening.

The highly anticipated ceasefire deal could pave the way for an end to the Gaza war, which began when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages, according to an Israeli tally.

Israel's war against Hamas has since killed nearly 47,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to health officials there.

It has left most of the enclave's 2.3 million residents homeless.

The three-stage agreement followed months of on-off talks brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the United States.

The first stage will take place over the next six weeks.

During that time, 33 of the remaining 98 hostages are to be released in return for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

The first three are female hostages to be freed on Sunday through the Red Cross.

In return, 90 Palestinian prisoners will be sent home from Israel.