A 28-year-old British-Israeli woman is among three hostages Hamas plans to free today under the Gaza ceasefire deal.

Emily Damari will be released alongside Romi Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, after Hamas handed their names to deal mediators on Sunday.

The announcement breaks the deadlock that threatened to derail the hostage-prisoner exchange after Hamas initially failed to provide the list of captives.

It comes after Benjamin Netanyahu halted the ceasefire agreement on Sunday after Hamas failed to specify which hostages it would free.

The Israeli Prime Minister delayed the truce an hour before its planned start as Hamas did not provide the required list of captives for release.

"The prime minister instructed the IDF that the ceasefire will not begin until Israel has the list of released abductees that Hamas has pledged to provide," his office declared.

Hamas blamed mysterious "technical field reasons" for the delay but vowed it was still on board. The group stayed silent on what exactly had gone wrong.

Yet hints of progress emerged on the ground. Israeli troops pulled back to the Philadelphi corridor near Egypt's border. In Khan Younis celebratory gunfire rang out at the original deadline though bombs still fell across parts of Gaza.

The deal - which was struck after intense talks with Egypt, Qatar and the US - promises a six-week break in fighting. It would free 33 hostages from Hamas's total of 98 captives—targeting women, children, the elderly and sick prisoners first. In exchange nearly 2,000 Palestinian inmates would walk free.

The first swap planned for Sunday aimed to free three women through the Red Cross. Israel pledged to release 30 Palestinian prisoners for each hostage.

This pact could mark a turning point in the bloody 15-month war. Israeli forces would quit key Gaza positions letting displaced Palestinians head north again.

US dealmaker Brett McGurk laid out the schedule: four more women freed after a week then three hostages released weekly after that.

The breakthrough lands just before Donald Trump takes office on 20 January. His envoy Steve Witkoff teamed up with Biden's staff to clinch the deal after Trump warned of "hell to pay" if hostages stayed captive.

Israeli commanders warned Gazans to steer clear of troops until they get official go-ahead to move about.