AL-BALAH DEIR, Gaza Strip Hours after the tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold, the military declared on Sunday that the first three hostages freed from Gaza had reached Israel. Their moms were anticipating their arrival.
In Gaza City, footage showed the three women making their way to Red Cross vans amid a mob that grew into the thousands as people clambered onto cars and held out cellphones. Armed and masked men wearing green Hamas headbands escorted the cars and fought to protect the transfer.
The three women were brought in for examination.
In his succinct remarks, President Joe Biden stated that they seemed to be in good condition.
Israel’s military released photos of them strolling between soldiers and the Red Cross, with one of the ladies, Emily Damari, 28, later triumphantly lifting her bandaged hand. She lost two fingers in the attack that started the war, according to the military.
Thousands of people gathered in Tel Aviv to see the news on big screens cheered. People had been gathering in the square for months to call for a ceasefire agreement. The women’s relatives clapped, jumped, and sobbed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remarked, “You are embraced by the entire nation.”
Also released were 31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher and 24-year-old Romi Gonen. The others were taken from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, and Gonen was kidnapped from the Nova music festival. Steinbrecher holds both Israeli and Romanian citizenship, whereas Damari is a dual citizen of Israel and Britain.
In addition to bringing about the first six weeks of peace, the truce increases optimism that the brutal 15-month war will finish and that the approximately 100 hostages still held will be freed. The Hamas military wing spokesperson later stated that the group is committed to the ceasefire, despite the fact that Hamas’s last-minute delay delayed the start of the truce by almost three hours.
Celebrations erupted throughout Gaza even before the ceasefire was implemented, and some Palestinians started to leave.
Later on Sunday, 90 Palestinian inmates were released. Families and friends gathered with excitement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank as people waved the Palestinian flag and cars honked.
The ceasefire, which went into effect at 11:15 a.m. local time, is the first step in resolving the dispute and bringing back the captives taken during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas raid.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 26 individuals were killed by Israeli fire between the scheduled ceasefire period and when it really began. Whether they were fighters or civilians was not specified. As Israeli forces withdraw into a buffer zone within Gaza, the military has issued a warning to the public to avoid them.
To oppose the ceasefire, Israel’s hard-line national security minister announced that his Jewish Power bloc was leaving the cabinet.Netanyahu’s coalition is weakened by Itamar Ben-Gvir’s departure, but the truce will remain unaffected.
Separately, Israel declared that it had conducted a special operation in Gaza and found the body of Oron Shaul, a soldier killed in the 2014 Israel-Hamas conflict. Following the 2014 conflict, Shaul’s and Hadar Goldin’s bodies were still there.
What comes next?
Following a year of mediation by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt, the ceasefire agreement was declared last week. Both the team of President-elect Donald Trump and the departing Biden administration had pushed for an agreement to be achieved prior to Monday’s inauguration.
Netanyahu issued a warning on Saturday, saying he has Trump’s support to fight on if needed.
Hundreds of Palestinian inmates and detainees should be released during the ceasefire’s initial 42-day phase, and 33 hostages should be gradually restored. It is anticipated that the next captive release will take place on Saturday.
With hundreds of trucks entering Gaza every day—much more than Israel previously permitted—there should also be an increase in the amount of humanitarian aid. Trucks began arriving through two crossings, according to the U.N. World Food Program. Brett McGurk, Biden’s top Middle East adviser, told CBS that 800 trucks were anticipated to arrive on Sunday.
This is only the second ceasefire in the war, and it has the ability to permanently end the combat. It is also lengthier and more significant than a week-long respite in November 2023.
In a little more than two weeks, negotiations on the ceasefire’s much more challenging second phase should start. There are still many unanswered uncertainties, such as whether the battle would continue after the initial phase.
Pain and joy combined
There was anguish and relief throughout Gaza. The majority of the population has been relocated, vast areas have been destroyed, and tens of thousands have died as a result of the conflict.
Rami Nofal, a displaced father from Gaza City, said, “This ceasefire was a joy mixed with pain because my son was martyred in this war.”
Associated Press correspondents in Gaza said that during some festivities, masked militants showed up as crowds chanted pro-Muslim slogans. After largely remaining silent owing to Israeli airstrikes, the Hamas-run police started to deploy in public.
Some families piled their stuff onto donkey carts and walked home.
When residents of the southern city of Rafah returned, they discovered extensive damage. Some discovered skulls and other human remains among the debris.
As he saw the remains of his family’s house, local Mohamed Abu Taha remarked, “It’s like you see a Hollywood horror movie.”
Israeli forces were already retreating from several locations. The AP was informed by residents in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya and Jabaliya that they did not see Israeli troops there.
The dead on the streets, according to one local, seemed as though they had been there for weeks.
Israelis disagree on the cease-fire agreement.
The accord caused division among Israelis.
Sderot resident Asher Pizem, 35, claimed the agreement had only delayed the next conflict with Hamas. Additionally, he attacked Israel for permitting aid into Gaza, claiming that it will aid in the resurgence of the militant organization.
As he and other Israelis gathered on a tiny hill in southern Israel to observe the burning remains of Gaza, he declared, “They will take the time and attack again.”
Biden denied having any worries about Hamas reorganizing when questioned about it on Sunday.
Massive toll
The war has claimed countless lives, and new information will now surface. In addition to thousands of homes, a significant portion of the infrastructure, like as the road, electricity, and water networks, was destroyed, according to Ahmed al-Sufi, the head of the Rafah municipality in Gaza.
Gaza’s Health Ministry reports that over 46,000 Palestinians have been murdered, with women and children accounting for over half of the deaths. However, the ministry does not differentiate between fighters and civilians.
More than 1,200 people, primarily civilians, were killed in the Hamas-led offensive on southern Israel that started the conflict, and another 250 were kidnapped by terrorists. In November 2023, a week-long ceasefire resulted in the release of over 100 prisoners.
Ninety percent of Gaza’s population is now displaced. If the ceasefire reaches its last stage, reconstruction will take at least a few years. There are still many unanswered uncertainties regarding Gaza’s future, both political and otherwise.
-The Associated Press, by Wafaa Shurafa, Samy Magdy, and Tia Goldenberg
