Mughrabi and James Mackenzie JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) -A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip took effect on Sunday after a nearly three-hour delay, pausing a 15-month-old war that has brought devastation and seismic political change to the Middle East.

Mughrabi, Maayan Lubell and Emily RoseJERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) -Palestinians headed for the rubble of their former homes in the Gaza Strip on Sunday and Israelis prepared to receive the first hostages still held by Hamas after a ceasefire deal took effect that could pave the way for an end to the 15-month-old war.

Iran welcomed on Thursday a cease-fire deal to end Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, calling it a “historic victory” for Palestinians.

Four hundred and sixty-six days since Hamas fighters massacred over 1,000 Israelis and kidnapped hundreds more, the guns may finally be falling silent.

To better understand what the cease-fire will mean for the Israelis, the Palestinians, and the Middle East, Foreign Affairs turned to Marc Lynch, a professor of political science at George Washington University and the director of its Middle East Studies program.

Israel supplied Iran with centrifuge platforms containing explosives for its nuclear enrichment program in an act of sabotage.

The Biden administration called for a final push before the president leaves office, with many seeing the Trump inauguration as an unofficial deadline.

What began as a battle between Israel and Hamas morphed into a much wider regional conflict that has reshaped much of the Middle East.

Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump are claiming credit for the Gaza deal. But it was the incoming US president who gave Israel the ultimatum of signing on or getting alienated. It worked.

A year after Israel vowed to wipe Hamas ‘off the face of the earth’ following the 7 October attack into Israel the conflict has spread across the Middle East

The 42-day first phase of the ceasefire should see a total of 33 hostages returned from Gaza and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees released.