STORY: ::Gazans celebrate as a delayed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas takes effect
::January 19, 2025
::Deir Al-Balah, Gaza
The ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip took effect at 11:15 a.m. local time (0915 GMT), after a nearly three-hour delay, pausing a 15-month-old war that has brought devastation and seismic political change to the Middle East.
Israel blamed Hamas for the delay after the Palestinian militant group failed to provide a list naming the first three hostages to be released under the deal. Hamas attributed the delay to "technical" reasons, without specifying what those were.
The highly anticipated ceasefire deal could help usher in an end to the Gaza war, which began after Hamas, which controls the tiny coastal territory, attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities.
Israel's response has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and killed nearly 47,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza-based health authorities.
The war also set off a confrontation throughout the Middle East between Israel and its arch-foe Iran, which backs Hamas and other anti-Israeli and anti-American paramilitary forces across the region.