would be a an idea that there would be a delay about an hour before because hamas had not handed over the names of the three hostages due to be released today. it did eventually come into effect, it appears to be holding, but based on various things happening through the day, one of them is the release of three israeli hostages. i just want to show you, in the square here, a gathering place, a meeting point for people to come, there has been a rotating collection of different artworks to bring, basically, the hostages, their names, backgrounds, to the forefront of consciousness here, and there was also a big clock on one side of this square, which counts up, not down, for the amount of time that they hostages have been held in gaza. you can see it there, a70 days, eight hours, two minutes and 25 seconds as i look at it.

and that will continue for some hostages beyond today, those three who are being released, that clock for them will stop, but for others, it will continue even beyond the first phase of this deal. i also want to show you the situation in gaza at the moment, these are live pictures from khan younis. interestingly, and i think, you know, it says a lot about the conflict that when the original ceasefire time passed at 8:30am this morning, if you were watching on bbc news, we had those pictures coming out of gaza, there was the sound of celebration, the sound of car horns, people who had not heard, the news had not got to them that the ceasefire had been delayed, so people started to celebrate in gaza. but then fighting continued, the israeli air strikes continued, the idf said that they had targeted terror targets in the north and central parts of the gaza

strip, so it was really quite a time afterwards, and after the death, the hamas run health ministry said the death of eight more palestinians and the wounding of 25 more in that fighting, that things eventually came to be situation which we find ourselves in now, which we find ourselves in now, which is a fragile peace, holding for the moment. i want to show you some pictures up when that did take hold, pictures of members of hamas celebrating, you can see, in gaza as well. celebrating that ceasefire actually coming into play. for people in gaza, you can see the situation there, you can see that hamas, obviously, even though one of the israeli efforts was to try and remove hamas from power, they succeeded in killing many of its top leaders, the masterminds of the october the 7th attacks, hamas does still administer gaza, so that is why

we are seeing those scenes this morning. but there is a lot to reconstruct, and reconstruction does not start until phase three of this three—part deal, and in fact the conversations and in fact the conversations and talks about it do not begin yet, they do not start until 60 days in. i spoke earlier to james aldo from unicef, who spent a lot of time in gaza, and he was talking about the ceasefire, but also the need in gaza, the need for civilians, many of whom have been displaced without infrastructure, food and water, what needs to happen next for them. i what needs to happen next for them. . , ., , ., them. i have been on the phone ever since _ them. i have been on the phone ever since they _ them. i have been on the phone ever since they started - them. i have been on the phone ever since they started looking l ever since they started looking real, because so many of the ceasefires have not felt like they were going to bring about an end to the killing and violence. this one has, since wednesday, including this morning, people arejust desperate, they have lived on hope, but as someone said to me today, we have absolutely also lived on disappointment, so

they wait. it is long overdue, we know these hostages should have been home a long time ago, we know that thousands and thousands of children did not need to be killed, 100 killed since the start of this year, anna. so people are saying to me, look, i live in a tent, i will go home to rubble, and to be in a tent, but i will remove the rubble with my hands. i think people forget, despite this insane devastation and destruction in the absence of empathy and respect the rules of war, gazans do rebuild, gazans have one of the highest literacy rates on the planet, and that is because no matter how many crises they have had, parents and grandparents always put education first, so these are a people who are ready to rebuild and ready to restart, if given a chance. as you have heard from your guests this morning, this cannot be for a week or a month, we cannot return to the idea of children being bombed in their homes and

being bombed in their homes and being shot, this needs to be sustained, and of course you and i are speaking and we are still waiting, and there is great hope on the ground, but it is a population that has literally seen their hopes blown away many times before in the last year. blown away many times before in the last year-— the last year. james, 'ust remind us i the last year. james, 'ust remind us of i the last year. james, 'ust remind us of the i the last year. james, just remind us of the scale i the last year. james, just remind us of the scale of| the last year. james, just. remind us of the scale of the task ahead in gaza, because of course this is a 3—phase ceasefire agreement, and the rebuilding, the reconstruction, does not come in until phase three, so much to be done there, from day one to actually, you rebuilding lives. it is such a critical point of that, you know, the environment that, you know, the environment that humanitarians need to operate in, if you look at numbers, almost the entirety of the gaza strip has been displaced, meaning having to leave your home, home is being destroyed, the capacity of the water system is around 25%, most of the hospitals are not fully functioning by any strange of the imagination,

systematic devastation of the health care system, we have seen diseases reappear, children dying of hypothermia and malnutrition. for unicef, ourfirst priority is and malnutrition. for unicef, our first priority is our medicine, fuel for these hospitals, so doctors can operate with lights, fuel to get desalination plants going. it is tense, it is blankets and it is food. but we don't change the operating environment in gaza, which has been so devastatingly eroded, with the stroke of a pen. we need those access points, many more access points, we have always said that the quickest and cheapest way to get aid to the long suffering population is through israel. those entry points need to open, we need security on the ground, we need roads repaired. we need all the things we have been pleading for that sit under humanitarian law for more than a year. those things need to occur and then, yes, we can start to flow to the gaza strip with aid, but when we talk of 600 trucks, which is essential, that is a 1000% increase on where we are

now, and where we are now is because of these restrictions, because of these restrictions, because of these restrictions, because of security and the lack of entry points and because of bureaucratic obstructions. so is those things have to be removed. i spoke to someone yesterday who said, i am spoke to someone yesterday who said, iam happy spoke to someone yesterday who said, i am happy and spoke to someone yesterday who said, iam happy and not spoke to someone yesterday who said, i am happy and not happy, what do we have left? what does it mean? what is the point? we have to show there is a point to this. gazans are ready to respond, they have been on the front line, their families, their children, for those volunteering in hospitals, but for this aid and commercial goods to get there, we need both parties, particularly israel, who controls the access points, the security, to follow the intent of the ceasefire, to allow us to reach a very long suffering people who really are and have been for a long time, and have been for a long time, and absolutely on the knees. i think what is key in all of this, james, something that i think it is true to say of the conflict across the wider middle east is that so often,

you know, these decisions that are being taken by violent armed groups, by politicians, people sitting in rooms, whoever they are, the impact is so acutely felt on the ground, whether, as we were hearing, it is hostage families in israel waiting desperately for the release of their loved ones, whether it is, as you were saying, displaced palestinians who have seen family members killed, who cannot feed their children, this is such a wide impact to ordinary israelis and palestinians, peoplejust trying to live their lives in peace. trying to live their lives in eace. ~ y trying to live their lives in eace. , ., peace. absolutely, and i recall ve well peace. absolutely, and i recall very well being _ peace. absolutely, and i recall very well being in _ peace. absolutely, and i recall very well being in gaza - peace. absolutely, and i recall very well being in gaza when l very well being in gaza when there was a five—day pause, two novembers a girl, and as the fighting started again, and during the pause, i would see childrenjust during the pause, i would see children just started to regain a little bit of childhood, starting to play again. and in the bombs started, and you realise that the bomb started because, yes, leaders who had a voice and could have made changes did not, and we have

seen and said that silence is complicity, this became a war on children. unicef did not say that for a headline but because of this of the disproportionate and devastating effect on children, in terms of numbers killed, injured, and disruption killed, injured,