For Lee Siegel, the ceasefire and hostage deal cannot come soon enough.

15 months ago, his brother Keith and sister-in-law Aviva were abducted from their home in the kibbutz community of Kfar Aza, around five kilometres east of the Gaza border.

Forced to drive their own car along with Hamas fighters, they were taken into Gaza.

Aviva was released after 51 days, during the last ceasefire and hostage release in November 2023.

But Keith remains in the war ravaged territory.

"About nine months ago, Hamas put out a video of Keith, a few minutes of him talking to his family and talking to us, " Lee Siegel told the ABC.

"[He was] talking about how much he missed the family and that he knows they miss him.

"At a certain point, he breaks down crying."

Since then, there has been no news of Keith's wellbeing.

"He was alive, we hope he's still alive," Mr Siegel said.

"It was before his 65th birthday — in the video, he looks to be 75, 85, 90, very worn, thin … frail and worn."

Based on his age, it is likely the grandfather of five is a member of the initial cohort of Israeli hostages who would be released in any deal.

Mr Siegel was reluctant to criticise the handling of hostage negotiation at such a sensitive moment, but offered some reflections on the time it has taken to reach a deal and the ongoing war.

"It's gone on for way too long — November 2023 showed us that diplomacy and negotiations reach an agreement, and hostages come home," he said.

"When we are at war and people are shooting, hostages do not come home.

"Hostages will only start coming home when there's quiet — and when it's quiet for Israel, when it's quiet for Gaza, when there's quiet in the region, that's when hostages will start coming home."

The ceasefire deal is being met with hope, and some trepidation, among Jewish and Palestinian communities in Australia.

Jewish Community Council of Victoria chief  executive Naomi Levin said when she heard the news this morning, she felt a mixture of “anticipation and also a sense of caution”.

“We’ve been here before, we know that these deals – for everyone’s best intentions – sometimes don’t end up how we want them to,” she told ABC Radio Melbourne.

She said the community can “only hope it will last”, but warned the return of the remaining hostages was needed.

“There are still a significant number of hostages in Gaza and until we see them safely in Israel and safe in the arms of their families, I think that excitement is really tempered.”

The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni said he had “barely slept last night, in anticipation of what might be announced”.

“Obviously it’s a welcome, welcome respite for the Palestinians in Gaza who have endured 466 days of relentless bombing,” he said.

Mr Mashni said he was “hopeful” that there would be a shift in international sentiment following the war.

“The world has to come and actively engage in a process that sees justice for all of Abraham’s children.”

In case you're just joining us, here are the key details of the ceasefire deal according to officials: 

• The initial phase will last 42 days, with negotiations for a second phase to start after 16 days 
• 33 Israeli hostages and about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners will be released in the first phase
• Israel will maintain a buffer zone of up to 800 metres inside Gaza, according to Israeli media 

It's hoped the rest of the 94 total Israeli hostages will be released in phase two.

US President Joe Biden said Israeli forces will withdraw from Gaza once all the hostages are returned. 

"We hope that this will be the last page of the war, and we hope that all parties will commit to implementing all the terms of this agreement," Qatar's prime minister said. 

Anthony Albanese is asked what his message is to Australians for whom the conflict is so personal. 

The prime minister says he's consistently called for the lowering of the temperature here in Australia. 

"Australians, I believe, wanted to see the hostages released. They wanted to see an end to the conflict. They also don't want conflict brought here," he says. 

Albanese pays tribute to the Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration. 

He says he had a number of discussions with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken amid ceasefire negotiations. 

"This is not the end. Importantly, this is a really important breakthrough and step forward," he says. 

Will the PM reach out to Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu? He doesn't engage but says the relationship between Australia and Israel is "in my view strong". 

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus is currently in Israel on a diplomatic visit. 

At least 12 people were killed and several wounded in shelling in a residential block of the northern Gaza strip, the Palestinian civil defence reported early on Thursday.

Abubaker Abed, a Palestinian journalist, has reported on X that Israeli tanks are advancing into the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, five kilometres north of Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza.

"Massive explosions," he wrote, saying a huge air strike had shaken the entire area.

Reporting with Reuters

New York Senator Chuck Schumer has used X to celebrate the deal. 

Schumer leads the Democrats in the Senate and is the highest-ranking Jewish member of the US Congress.

He says the deal "couldn't have happened without steadfast diplomacy and until the potency of Hamas was radically reduced".

 From what we've heard of the ceasefire proposal, there may be multiple stages of the agreement. 

That means only some of the Israeli hostages being held by Hamas may be returned at first.

On Thursday evening, the ABC's Haidarr Jones photographed supporters of the Israeli hostages took to the streets of Tel Aviv, demanding all the hostages be returned at once.

US Senator Bernie Sanders says the ceasefire announcement is long-overdue news, but just the first step towards peace. 

He's calling for a plan to rebuild Gaza and establish Palestinian governance in the enclave. He also wants "accountability for the many war crimes committed by both sides in this terrible conflict".

Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democratic Party, has been one Israel's strongest critics in the US Congress.

Last year, he led efforts to block the sale of certain American weapons to Israel, but was met with bipartisan opposition.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has also welcomed the ceasefire deal, telling reporters he hoped the agreement can be sustained. 

Speaking to reporters in Tasmania, he says Australians should "never forget the carnage that took place on October 7". 

"Australia should now seek to re establish its important relationship with Israel," he adds, arguing the government had damaged the relationship amid the conflict.

Asked about Palestinian statehood, Dutton says he wants to "wait and see" if commitments included in the ceasefire agreement, such as the release of the Israeli hostages, can be honoured first before discussing the next steps. 

As final negotiations and backgrounding on the ceasefire went in to overdrive on Wednesday, local time, Israel continued to launch airstrikes.

The Palestinian Red Crescent says three people were killed and scores of others injured in a strike on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

Israel did not respond to Reuters news agency's request for comment.

Israel has long accused militant groups of basing fighters within densely-populated areas such as refugee camps that date back to 1948.

Reporting with Reuters