After 15 months of war, three Israeli hostages left Hamas captivity and returned to Israel, and 90 Palestinian prisoners walked free from Israeli jail, as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect on Sunday, January 19.
There were no airstrikes in Gaza for the first time in over a year, and Palestinians began returning to what was left of the homes they fled across the war-ravaged enclave, and to bury their dead.
Also, after months of tight Israeli restrictions, more than 600 trucks carrying humanitarian aid rolled into Gaza.
In Israel, hostages Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Doron Steinbrecher reunited with their families, but questions arose over the nearly 100 others abducted in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, who are still in captivity in Gaza.
Damari, Gonen and Steinbrecher were the first among 33 Israeli hostages who are meant to be released in the coming six weeks in a deal that includes a pause in fighting, the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and increased fuel and aid deliveries for Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was pressured by the outgoing Biden administration and incoming Trump administration to secure a deal before the president-elect’s inauguration Monday in Washington, has said he received assurances from Trump that Israel could continue fighting Hamas if necessary.
On Sunday night, many Israelis stayed glued to TV screens all afternoon to glimpse the women being released through the windows of the Red Cross ambulance.
Footage showed them thronged by thousands of jostling Palestinians, including Hamas gunmen wearing green headbands, as militants handed them over to the Red Cross on a packed street in Gaza City.
“An entire nation embraces you,” Netanyahu said.
Applause erupted among the thousands who gathered to watch the poignant scenes on large screens at Hostages Square, the Tel Aviv plaza where families and supporters of hostages have been protesting weekly to demand a ceasefire deal.
In the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military warned that public celebrations for the released prisoners would be punished but scuffles with Israeli security forces and hours of waiting did little to deter the crowds that flooded the streets around 1 a.m., as large white buses carrying 90 Palestinian detainees, all women or teens — exited the gates of Ofer prison, near the West Bank city of Ramallah.
The next release of hostages and prisoners is due Saturday. In just over two weeks, talks are to begin on the far more challenging second phase of the ceasefire agreement.
In Gaza, there was palpable relief at the prospect of six weeks without fighting and Israeli bombardment that so far has killed over 46,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which says women and children make up more than half the fatalities but does not distinguish between civilians and fighters.
(dpa/NAN/PM)
