their grounded, and return to their life. — grounded, and return to their life. is— grounded, and return to their life. is it _ grounded, and return to their life, is it becomes very important to them to use their experience for the impact in the service of others. and you see them _ the service of others. and you see them then getting involved in forums — see them then getting involved in forums like the professor is, supporting other hostages. finding — is, supporting other hostages. finding other ways of supporting people who have had traumatic experiences. and it is often — traumatic experiences. and it is often that they find and give — is often that they find and give meaning to the horrific experiences that they have had. tell us a little bit more about that specific role that you used to play as a hostage negotiator. of course, the negotiation, in this case, has been one that has been happening, you know, when i say at a very high level, ijust mean with a lot of parties involved. it has been one that has been indirect anyway because of course israel and hamas don't have direct relations, it has been carried out through mediators. there

have been times when yahya sinwar, the leader of hamas in gaza was still lives and things were having to go to him for approval and it was taking time —— still alive. you probably don't get many processes, hostage release negotiation processes, that are as complex as this one. well, this one is unusual because _ well, this one is unusual because of the level of complexity. but remember that negotiations between countries, between — negotiations between countries, between northern ireland, and negotiations have really actually been taking place between some of these parties in many— between some of these parties in many ways for decades and years — what has been happening in those — what has been happening in those negotiations is very different. these involve direct communication, leveraging the pressure — communication, leveraging the pressure and the resources of third — pressure and the resources of third parties. qatar stepping up third parties. qatar stepping up and — third parties. qatar stepping up and bringing resources. continuing to build a relationship with each party. egypt — relationship with each party. egypt stepping in. and then the

us providing a lot of support and a — us providing a lot of support and a lot— us providing a lot of support and a lot of pressure. but time and all the things that— but time and all the things that happen, the destruction of gaza, _ that happen, the destruction of gaza, the — that happen, the destruction of gaza, the pressure from the families, _ gaza, the pressure from the families, all the nuance of the politics— families, all the nuance of the politics in— families, all the nuance of the politics in each one of these countries _ politics in each one of these countries also layered on. and then— countries also layered on. and then the — countries also layered on. and then the changing dynamic of what — then the changing dynamic of what was happening on the ground _ what was happening on the ground with gaza. and then let's— ground with gaza. and then let's remember that much of the support— let's remember that much of the support for the terrorist wing of hamas is coming from iran. and _ of hamas is coming from iran. and a — of hamas is coming from iran. and a weakened iran, a week in syria. _ and a weakened iran, a week in syria. has— and a weakened iran, a week in syria, has changed the dynamic quite _ syria, has changed the dynamic quite a — syria, has changed the dynamic quite a hit _ syria, has changed the dynamic quite a bit. in the months that the hostages have gone through this horrific experience. all of these _ this horrific experience. all of these things influence the dynamic, whether there is dialogue or not. again, one of the issues that is ongoing, we have talked about the 33 people... 30 of

them left and three now back in israel, the 30 hostages yet to be released in the first phase of this deal. but of course there are still hostages who don't fall into the categories under phase one, where we are talking about men over 50. women and children, many of them have been released already but younger women, female soldiers will be released this time round. we were talking earlier to the mother of a young male soldier. his potential release much further along the process. and is very dependent on the process working the way it is supposed to until that point. again, that must be difficult, it must be something that you in your career have done when you are looking at a collection of people and deciding who goes first and has to stay.— 0ne one of the most important things— one of the most important things about negotiations is recognising what you can do. this was what was capable of

being — this was what was capable of being accomplished with these parties — being accomplished with these parties in this moment. sometimes, like larger solutions, like an entire peace process— solutions, like an entire peace process here is too difficult to get _ process here is too difficult to get the parties to envision, to get the parties to envision, to understand or to even organise themselves. to have their own basis. that there — to have their own basis. that there is— to have their own basis. that there is any consensus around. what _ there is any consensus around. what happened in this dynamic is that— what happened in this dynamic is that they took the things that— is that they took the things that they could get some agreement around, built a lot of structure, and that is why we are — of structure, and that is why we are seeing this spread over time, — we are seeing this spread over time, and _ we are seeing this spread over time, and it is seeming like it is very— time, and it is seeming like it is very painstakingly happening, it will take months, and certainly weeks, tojust deliver— and certainly weeks, tojust deliver on this phase. and it is because there is such a low levet— is because there is such a low level of— is because there is such a low level of trust that this has been _ level of trust that this has been an— level of trust that this has been an active war zone and that— been an active war zone and that these parties are so not used — that these parties are so not used to— that these parties are so not used to agreeing and then executing with fidelity and fulfilling their agreements.

in one way, the complexity of this has— in one way, the complexity of this has only allowed for these pieces— this has only allowed for these pieces to — this has only allowed for these pieces to be agreed upon right now _ pieces to be agreed upon right now but — pieces to be agreed upon right now. but the simple fact that any agreement around any of these — any agreement around any of these releases and allowing in aid, and — these releases and allowing in aid, and the release of other prisoners, _ aid, and the release of other prisoners, the fact that we have — prisoners, the fact that we have been able to do that shows that we — have been able to do that shows that we can continue to be at the table _ that we can continue to be at the table. and with the level of focus _ the table. and with the level of focus from the international community, the backing of the us, qatar, egypt, and others, that, — us, qatar, egypt, and others, that, actually, pieces of a larger— that, actually, pieces of a larger agreement can be agreed upon _ larger agreement can be agreed upon and — larger agreement can be agreed upon and executed. even without a longer— upon and executed. even without a longer term solution. phil andrew, thank you for joining us, former fbi hostage negotiator really looking in more detail at some of the issues that have been such key

parts of this process. you are live with bbc news. i am in tel aviv in israel. we have been bringing you coverage throughout the day of this developing story. i want to take a few moments to take you around various key locations in this story in israel and in gaza that we have seen in the last few hours. when that delayed ceasefire eventually came into effect at 11:15am local time this morning, it was pushed back from 8:30am, after israel didn't receive the identities of those hostages that were being released by the start of the ceasefire time, but it did actually happen at 11:15am. the airstrikes, at 11:15am. the air strikes, at that 11:15am. the airstrikes, at that point in gaza, stopped and people have subsequently been heading home. they have been moving through, as you can see and hear. the area... moving back to... and we can see and hear celebration, as well.

you can see very clearly in those pictures... this is the moment that those three hostages were released by hamas. the first part of that stage. you can see really chaotic scenes as they were handed over to the red cross. this is happening in gaza city. these were the pictures from earlier that you could see. members of hamas. you can see the distinctive green headbands as they were handed over. these pictures emerged sometime after the exchange took place. but when things were made public and people here in hostage square in tel aviv where i am, this is how they reacted. they were gathered here watching israeli tv on the big screen behind me, seeing those key moments and realising that those three women were finally

free from hamas captivity. and on their way home to israel. and i want to show you the moment that the mothers of the three hostages learned that they had been handed over to they had been handed over to the red cross. again, a really key step in the process. remember, they only found out this morning that their daughters were going to be released. those identities were only made public by hamas at about iiam only made public by hamas at about ”am this morning local time, not long before the came into ceasefire effect. those mums learning within a few hours that their daughters were going to be released and then that they were handed over to the red cross a really key moment today. across gaza, as we were saying, many of the hundreds of thousands of people who have been displaced over the last 15 months or so of fighting have been heading back. i would say to their homes but, you know, in some cases, those homesjust don't exist any more. they are going back to neighbourhoods, which they will able to pinpoint, but

to homes and lives that simply don't exist any more. this is jabalia, the area that you are looking at here, people returning there. it was targeted many, many times it israeli air strikes, israel saying it was targeting hamas militants in that area. but you can just see there, you get a real idea of the devastation. and also how little people have left. these are people returning to their homes with bags, you know, those are the possessions that they still have. particularly those who have. particularly those who have been displaced multiple times. 0verthe have been displaced multiple times. over the last a70 days or so. this is what people in rafah had to say about the ceasefire earlier today. translation: it is an - indescribable feeling for rafah and the entire nation. at first, in rafah, we see the destruction, destruction we have not seen before. we were talking about a genocide, but it is more than genocide. may god be with our people and grant them patience and have mercy on our martyrs

and heal our wounded. we hope that this truce continues and this is the end of the bloodshed, the torrent of blood, which our people paid a heavy price for. our people gave a lot. translation: i entered this area nearly 20 - to 25 days before the jewish forces came here. the houses were there, where the people were standing, our hearts were just aching when saw the scenes today. someone like my father, who is 75 years old, he'll get a stroke, he'll fall and who will compensate him? my cousin who was martyred, my brother who died, my cousin, my brother's house, my sister's house, my cousin's of course, another thing that has happened now that ceasefire has happened now that ceasefire has come into effect, is that trucks of much—needed aid have now started moving into gaza. the world food programme have said these pictures of some of their trucks moving through the

rafah crossing into gaza. under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, they are supposed to be 600 top matrox of aid per day. —— 600 trucks. it sounds like a lot, but it is by no means anything near the amount thatis means anything near the amount that is needed to meet the huge humanitarian aid need that exists in gaza at the moment. bbc arabic�*s abdelbassir hassan is on the egyptian side of the rafah crossing. he sent this report. this is the rafah crossing from the egyptian side and it is the first day of the ceasefire from hamas and israel. the first aid trucks have been seen entering gaza this morning since the ceasefire came into effect. the united nations food agency says its aid trucks have entered into gaza via two crossings. they came in the north and kerem shalom in the south. other aid trucks have been seen entering the strip

via the rafah crossing. the first aid trucks carried life—saving wheat, flour, and ready to eat food parcels for people in the desperate need. the world food programme says gaza relies heavily on aid forfood. and in recent weeks just a0 trucks of aid were getting in on average, while pre—conflict around 500 trucks entered the gaza daily. the ceasefire deal requires 608 trucks to enter each day. let's