Hamas releases first Israeli hostages after Gaza ceasefire takes effect
Hamas fighters transferred the three hostages to Red Cross officials in Gaza City
- Published
Three female Israeli hostages held by Hamas for 15 months have been released and brought back to Israel, the Israeli military says, after a long-awaited ceasefire deal took effect.
Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari, who is also a British citizen, were due to be freed in exchange for 95 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
The start of the ceasefire was delayed by almost three hours on Sunday morning, with Israel blaming Hamas for failing to provide the three hostages' names. Nineteen Palestinians were reportedly killed in Israeli strikes before the list was delivered.
Once the truce began, hundreds of displaced people began heading back to their homes across Gaza.
Lorries carrying desperately needed humanitarian aid also began crossing into the territory.
The three-phase deal was brokered last week by the US, Egypt and Qatar, where the foreign ministry spokesman said it was the "last chance for peace".
The first phase lasting six weeks should see a total 33 Israeli hostages held by Hamas exchanged for about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Israeli forces will also withdraw from densely populated areas of Gaza, displaced Palestinians will be allowed to begin returning to their homes, and hundreds of aid lorries will be allowed into the territory each day.
Negotiations for the second phase - which will see the remaining hostages released, a full Israeli troop withdrawal and "the restoration of sustainable calm" - should start in just over two weeks.
The third and final stage will involve the reconstruction of Gaza, which could take years, and the return of any remaining hostages' bodies.
Thousands of displaced Palestinians began returning to their homes after the ceasefire took effect
The ceasefire was due to start at 08:30 local time (06:30 GMT) on Sunday, but the Israeli government said Hamas had not delivered the names of the first hostages to be freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas said the delay was caused by "technical field reasons", adding that it was still committed to the agreement.
The Hamas-run Civil Defence agency said 19 people were killed and 36 were wounded in Israeli air and artillery strikes across Gaza during the delay.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it struck "a number of terror targets" in northern and central Gaza and that its forces remained "ready in defence and offence".
The ceasefire eventually took effect at 11:15, after the Israeli government said it had received the hostages' names.
It later identified them as Emily Damari, 28, who was abducted from Kibbutz Kfar Aza during Hamas's 7 October attack on southern Israel; Doron Steinbrecher, 31, who was also kidnapped in Kfar Aza; and Romi Gonen, 24, who was abducted from the Nova music festival.
Thousands of people gathered in front of a big screen in Tel Aviv's "Hostages Square", waiting for news about the women.
Coaches earlier arrived at Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank ahead of the release of Palestinians in exchange for the Israeli hostages
At around 17:15, the IDF said the International Committee of the Red Cross had "communicated that the three Israeli hostages were transferred to them and are on their way toward IDF and ISA [Shin Bet security service] forces in the Gaza Strip".
Video footage from Saraya Square in central Gaza City showed armed Palestinian gunmen wearing camouflage uniforms escorting several ICRC vehicles through a large crowd.
A senior Hamas official told AFP news agency that the women had been handed over "after a member of the Red Cross team met them and ensured their wellbeing".
About 40 minutes later, the IDF announced that the women had crossed into Israeli territory, accompanied by Israeli special forces.
"The released hostages are currently on their way to an initial reception point in southern Israel, where they will undergo an initial medical assessment," it said.
Earlier, pictures from northern Gaza showed some of the 1.9 million Palestinians displaced by Israeli strikes, evacuation orders and fighting attempting to return to their homes.
One man posted a video in which he said the joy he had experienced because of the ceasefire had very quickly turned to sadness when he saw that his house was destroyed.
In the occupied West Bank, Palestinian families were gathering near Ofer prison to greet some of the first Palestinian prisoners and detainees to be released under the ceasefire deal.
Seventy women, 15 men and 10 children, should be freed by Israel in return for the first three hostages.
Israel's prime minister said it reserves the right to resume the Gaza war if the ceasefire breaks down
On Saturday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that any ceasefire would be "temporary", and that Israel reserved the right to resume the war, with US backing, if it broke down.
The comments appeared to be aimed to placate far-right ministers in cabinet ministers against the deal.
However, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and two other ministers from his right-right Jewish Power party, Yitzhak Wasserlauf and Amichai Eliyahu, said on Sunday that they had resigned in protest.
Ben-Gvir has said his party will not try to bring down Netanyahu's governing coalition in parliament, where it now has a razor-thin majority.
The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas - which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US and others - in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.
More than 46,910 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. Most of the 2.3 million population has also been displaced, there is widespread destruction, and there are severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter due to a struggle to get aid to those in need.
Israel says 94 of the hostages are still being held by Hamas, of whom 34 are presumed dead. In addition, there are three Israelis who were abducted before the war, one of whom is dead.
On Sunday morning, the Israeli military announced that special forces had recovered the body of Staff Sgt Oron Shaul, an Israeli soldier who was killed in the 2014 war in Gaza.
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