Khan Yunis (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Palestinians in Gaza clapped, cheered and danced in the pre-dawn darkness on Thursday, after Israel and Hamas agreed a ceasefire and hostage release deal in a major step towards ending the devastating two-year war in the territory.

Around a dozen young men shouted joyful chants of “Allahu akbar”, meaning God is the greatest, outside Khan Yunis’s Nasser Hospital, as one man lifted another onto his shoulders.

A man wearing a journalist’s press vest could also be seen carried above the crowd.

“Thanks to God for this ceasefire, thanks for the end of the bloodshed and the killing,” said Abdelmajid Abedrabbo, one of the people celebrating.

“I am not the only one who is happy, all of the Gaza Strip is happy, all of the Arab people are happy about the ceasefire,” he added.

“Thanks and love to all those who stood with us and played a part in ending the bloodshed, sending you love from Gaza.”

Israel and Hamas on Thursday agreed a Gaza ceasefire deal that could free the remaining living hostages within days, in a major step toward ending a war that has killed tens of thousands and unleashed a humanitarian crisis.

The agreement, to be signed Thursday, also calls for Israel to release nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners as well as prompt a surge of aid into Gaza after more than two years of war started by Hamas’s unprecedented October 2023 attack on Israel.

- ‘We are happy’ -

“Despite all the wounding and the killing, and the loss of loved ones and relatives, we are happy today after the ceasefire,” Ayman al-Najjar told AFP in Khan Yunis.

“I lost my cousins and some friends, and a week ago I lost my beloved grandfather, may his soul rest in peace. But today, and in spite of all this, we are happy,” he added.

The war in Gaza was triggered by Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed at least 67,194 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the United Nations considers credible.

Militants also took 251 people hostage into Gaza, where 47 remain, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.

On Thursday, Israel continued its air strikes in Gaza, with AFP footage showing plumes of smoke billowing into the sky.

Gaza’s civil defence agency, a rescue force operating under Hamas authority, said at least four people were killed on Thursday in Israeli strikes.

- ‘Indescribable’ -

The ceasefire and hostage release deal follows a 20-point peace plan for Gaza announced last month by US President Donald Trump.

“Thank God, President Trump has announced that war ended, we are very happy,” said Wael Radwan.

“We thank our brothers and all of those who participated even with just words to stop this war and this bloodshed.”

Children in Gaza also expressed their joy, hoping they would now be able to return to school.

“As soon as I woke up, my mother told me ‘the war has stopped, there’s a truce’ and I replied, ‘So that means we’re not going to die today?’” said nine-year-old Layan Massoud, who is living in the coastal Al-Mawasi area.

“I ran out of the tent shouting to my friends, ‘There’s a truce! There’s a truce!” she continued.

Rami Nofal, a 22-year-old displaced Gazan, said he hoped people would be able to return to their normal lives.

“We will rebuild the schools and universities. The children around us have seen things that no other children in the world have seen.”

Khaled Al-Namnam, 26, who is displaced in Al-Maghzai in the central Gaza Strip, said he had not expected the news.

“Suddenly, I woke up in the morning to incredibly beautiful news… everyone was talking about the end of the war, aid coming in and the crossings being opened. I felt immense happiness,” he told AFP by telephone.

“It’s a strange feeling – indescribable – after two years of bombing, fear, terror and hunger. Truly, it feels like we are being born again.”