The deal hit its first major complication when Israel said a female civilian hostage named Arbel Yahoud was supposed to be released but wasn't.

After a faltering start, the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect last Sunday. Fergal Keane has been reporting on the conflict from the outset and was on Israel's border with Gaza last weekend – here he reflects on the human cost of the war and what the future might hold.

Even before the first phase is completed, the fragile cease-fire agreement that has paused 15 months of war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas faces increasingly long odds of lasting or even reaching phase two.