Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal begins with release of Israeli hostages, Palestinian prisoners.
By Lucia Suarez Sang, Haley Ott
Three Israeli hostages were released Sunday as part of a long-awaited ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. They are the first of 33 that Hamas is scheduled to release in the first phase of the deal.
Early Monday, more than seven hours later, Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
With the help of the Red Cross, the Israeli hostages were transferred to the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security Authority shortly after 5:30 p.m. IDF special forces and ISA forces escorted the freed hostages from Gaza. "Commanders and soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces greet and embrace the freed hostages as they return home to the State of Israel," the agencies said.
The freed hostages were confirmed to be Romi Gonen, 24, Doron Steinbrecher, 31, and Emily Damari, 28.
From left, Emily Damari, Doron Steinbrecher and Romi Gonan are pictured in photos released by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. Hostage and Missing Families Forum.
Israeli authorities said the freed hostages underwent initial medical evaluations at a reception point in southern Israel upon their return. After these checks, they boarded a military helicopter that took them to other hospitals. A large bus carrying dozens of Palestinian prisoners pulled up outside the gates of Israel's Ofer prison, just outside the West Bank city of Ramallah.
The Israeli army, which occupies the West Bank, has warned Palestinians against any public celebrations, but crowds gathered on the buses after they left the prison, with some people climbing on top or waving flags, including Hamas flags.
There were fireworks and boos and chants of "God is great." The freed prisoners were lifted onto each other's shoulders or hugged.
PALESTINIAN-ISRAELI CONFLICT - NECESSARY PRISON LABOR
Palestinians celebrate the release of about 90 prisoners released by Israel in the early hours of January 20, 2025 when they arrived on a Red Cross bus in the occupied West Bank town of Beitunia, on the outskirts of Ramallah. According to a list provided by the Palestinian Authority's Prisoners' Affairs Commission, all of those released are women or teenagers, the youngest being 15 years old. Israel arrested them for what it said were violations related to Israeli security, ranging from stone-throwing to more serious charges such as attempted murder.
The Israeli military released a video of the mothers of three Israeli women watching footage of their daughters returning from an Israeli soldier's phone to the pick-up point.
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The Israeli hostages were reunited with family members after being released by Hamas as part of a ceasefire and hostage-free agreement between Israel and the militant group. IDF
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they had endured a terrible ordeal. "They are, we all know, they have been through hell." "They came from darkness to light, from slavery to freedom," he said.
"They appear to be in good health," President Biden said in brief remarks after arriving in Israel.
Brett McGurk, the Biden administration's National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, said Sunday on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" that he had spoken to his Israeli counterparts about the hostages' living conditions.
"I know they are alive," McGurk said. "They have been held in deplorable conditions for 470 days, but the Israelis have a very good system for taking care of them and they will receive the care they need and be reunited with their families."
The ceasefire officially began early Sunday after a last-minute delay of nearly three hours. Fighting continued past 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, with the Israeli military saying Hamas had not provided the names of the first three hostages to be released, in accordance with the terms of the deal.
In Gaza, warplanes and drones disappeared from the skies as the deal went into effect, and at least 191 aid trucks had begun entering Gaza through the Karem Shalom crossing.
Al-Qassam Brigades hand over 3 Israeli hostages to the Red Cross
Al-Qassam Brigades hand over 3 Israeli hostages to the Red Cross in al-Saraya as part of the first phase of the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza City, Gaza, on January 19, 2025. Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu via Getty Images
The first phase of the ceasefire requires Hamas to release 33 hostages within a six-week period. They include women, children and hostages over 50, according to an early draft by CBS News.
The plan is for three female hostages to be released alive on the first day. Four hostages will be released on the seventh day and the remaining 26 over the next five weeks.
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A crowd celebrates in Gaza after a ceasefire and hostage-free agreement came into effect on Sunday, January 19, 2025. McGurk said the deal was not "completed last week."
"It's a detailed, comprehensive deal that leaves nothing to chance," McGurk said. "And even last night, I stayed up until 4 a.m. when it finally came together to make sure everything went as planned."
Rep. Mike Waltz, who will serve as national security adviser in the new Trump administration, said on "Face the Nation" Sunday that "this deal would never have happened if President Trump had not been elected."
Waltz said that "if Hamas goes back to this deal, they pull out, they move the pillars, whatever it takes, we will support Israel in what it needs to do, number one and number two, Hamas will never rule Gaza."
"President Trump's plan and his first term, his plan for the Middle East and his plan for Israel and Palestine had a two-state path with all kinds of very important conditions that had to be set up in advance," he said. "Stop the radicalization of the next generation of Palestinian youth." Very specific elements of that plan on how things would be divided, but I think we can move on to the next phase of the Abraham Accords."
On Wednesday, Mr. Biden and the prime minister of Qatar separately announced the deal after a week of intense negotiations brokered by Qatar, the United States and Egypt. In a message on Truth Social, Mr. Trump welcomed the imminent release of the three hostages. "The hostages will start coming out today! Three wonderful young women will be the first," he wrote on Sunday morning. In a rare meeting on the Jewish Sabbath, the full Israeli cabinet voted to approve the deal. Ceasefire agreement reached in Israel-Gaza war Displaced Palestinians celebrate the announcement of a ceasefire and an agreement for the exchange of hostages and prisoners between Hamas and Israel in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on January 19, 2025. The agreement has sparked a flurry of activity and a new wave of emotion, with families wondering whether the hostages will be returned alive or dead. How the hostages will be released, according to the negotiated agreement, will be done in three phases. The first phase will last 42 days, with negotiations for the much more difficult second phase expected to begin in just over two weeks. After six weeks of the first phase, the Israeli security cabinet will decide how to proceed. In total, Hamas would release 33 hostages during the first phase. Hamas began releasing hostages on the first day, initially returning three to Israel, according to an early draft from CBS News. On the seventh day, Hamas released four hostages. Hamas is to release three hostages every seven days, starting with the living and then continuing with the return of the bodies of those who died. Aid trucks enter the Rafah crossing as a ceasefire begins in the Israel-Hamas war. In each exchange, Palestinian prisoners will be released by Israel upon the safe arrival of the hostages. Mr. Biden said on Wednesday that Americans would be among the hostages released in the first phase of the deal, but he did not specify their names or how soon they would be released. In the first phase, Israel will release at least 1,700 Palestinian prisoners, including 1,167 Gazans who did not participate in the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which triggered the war. All women and children under the age of 19 from Gaza held by Israel will be released during this phase. The remaining hostages in Gaza, including male Israeli soldiers, will be released in a second phase that will be negotiated during the first phase. Hamas has said it will not release the remaining prisoners without a lasting ceasefire and a complete Israeli withdrawal. When will the fight stop? During the first phase of the ceasefire, Israeli troops will withdraw to a buffer zone about 800 meters wide in Gaza, along its borders with Israel. Meanwhile, between 8:30 a.m. and the ceasefire took effect, Israeli fire killed at least 26 people, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. He did not specify whether they were civilians or combatants. The military has warned people to stay away from Israeli forces as they withdraw to a buffer zone in Gaza. Displaced Palestinians begin to return to their homes after the effect of the cease-fire Displaced Palestinians, refugees in Khan Yunis, begin to return to their homes after the cease-fire agreement and exchange of hostages and prisoners between Hamas and Israel. Despite reservations and uncertainty, the impatience was high. "The first thing I have to do is go and see my house," Mohamed Mahdi, a father of two displaced from Gaza's Zaytoun neighborhood, told The Associated Press. He also looks forward to seeing his family in southern Gaza, but he is "always worried that one of us might be martyred before we meet." Aid began slowly arriving in Gaza on Sunday. Save the Children President and CEO Janti Soeripto told Face the Nation that as of Sunday afternoon local time, his organization had "60 trucks waiting in this line, all loaded with warm clothes, shoes, for children, medical kits, malnutrition treatments, that's what we have." Save the Children is trying to connect 17,000 displaced children from Gaza with their families, which Soeripto described as a "long and difficult process, which also requires real, sensitive and professional social workers." "It's a huge effort," Soeripto said. "You know, it's a real moment of hope and danger at the same time." The attack carried out by Hamas on October 1 As of Sept. 7, 2023, about 1,200 people had been killed in Israel and 250 others were being held captive. About 100 hostages are still being held in Gaza. Israel has responded with an offensive that has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-led Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and militants but says women and children account for more than half of the dead. -- The Associated Press contributed to this report. Emily Mae Czachor contributed to this report.
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