A ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas is set to come into effect this morning with a hostage release to follow hours later, opening the way to a possible end to a 15-month onslaught that has upended the Middle East, Reuters reports.

Israeli forces started withdrawing from areas in Gaza’s Rafah to the Philadelphi corridor along the border between Egypt and Gaza, media reported.

The three-stage ceasefire will come into effect at 0630 GMT (11:30am PST) on Sunday.

Its first stage will last six weeks, during which 33 of the remaining 98 hostages — women, children, men over 50, the ill and wounded — will be released in return for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

They include 737 male, female and teen-aged prisoners, some of whom are members of fighter groups convicted of attacks that killed dozens of Israelis, as well as hundreds of Palestinians from Gaza in detention since the start of the conflict.

Three female hostages are expected to be released on Sunday afternoon through the Red Cross, in return for 30 prisoners each.

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