The first three hostages released from Gaza have arrived in Israel, the military said Sunday, hours after the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold. Their mothers were waiting to meet them.
Israeli media, carrying live footage from Qatar-based Al Jazeera, showed the three women walking to Red Cross vehicles as their convoy moved through Gaza City. The vehicles were accompanied by armed men who wore green Hamas headbands and struggled to guard the cars from an unruly crowd that swelled into the thousands.
No further glimpses of the three were immediately expected as they will be taken for medical assessment. “They appear to be in good health,” President Joe Biden said in brief remarks as they were arriving in Israel.
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In Tel Aviv, thousands of people gathered to watch the news on large screens erupted in cheers. For months, many had gathered in the square to demand a ceasefire deal.
The ceasefire ushers in an initial six-week period of calm and raises hopes for the release of dozens of militant-held hostages and an end to the devastating 15-month war. A last-minute delay by Hamas put off the truce’s start by nearly three hours and highlighted its fragility.
Even before the ceasefire took effect, celebrations broke out across the territory and some Palestinians began returning to their homes.
Early Monday, Israel freed 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, hours after the three Israeli hostages released from Hamas captivity in Gaza returned to Israel. In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, families and friends had gathered excitedly as cars honked and people waved the Palestinian flag.
Palestinians thronged the buses carrying the prisoners or climbed on top, chanting and cheering, as they headed slowly through the growing crowd to Beitunia town. Some people waved flags, including that of Hamas. Horns sounded and people whistled. The release occurred over seven hours after the first hostages were released.
Large white buses carrying the detainees exited the gates of Israel’s Ofer prison, just outside the West Bank city of Ramallah, as celebratory fireworks erupted overhead. Crowds of Palestinians thronged the buses, chanting and cheering.
According to a list provided by the Palestinian Authority’s Commission of Detainees Affairs, all of those released are women or minors. Israel detained all of the people on the list for what it said were offenses related to Israel’s security, from throwing stones to more serious accusations such as attempted murder.
The long-awaited ceasefire in the Gaza Strip took effect Sunday. The truce, which started at 11:15 a.m. local time, was the first step toward ultimately ending the conflict and returning nearly 100 hostages abducted in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack.
Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were released. Gonen was abducted from the Nova music festival, while the others were kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Damari is an Israeli-British dual citizen.
In the interim between 8:30 a.m. and when the ceasefire took hold, Israeli fire killed at least 26 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It did not say whether they were civilians or fighters. The military has warned people to stay away from Israeli forces as they retreat to a buffer zone inside Gaza.
Israel’s hard-line national security minister, meanwhile, said his Jewish Power faction was quitting the government in protest over the ceasefire agreement. Itamar Ben-Gvir’s departure weakens Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition but will not affect the truce.
In a separate development, Israel announced it had recovered the body of Oron Shaul, a soldier killed in the 2014 Israel-Hamas war, in a special operation in Gaza. The bodies of Shaul and another soldier, Hadar Goldin, remained there after the 2014 war and had not been returned.
Sunday, Jan. 19, 4:10 p.m.: Updated with news of the 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees being released by Israel.
