A Red Cross convoy was seen in Gaza Strip on Sunday, believed to be on its way to pick up the first Israeli hostages in the territory. It was not clear how long the process would take.
The first three Israeli hostages released by Hamas arrived in Israelas a long-awaited ceasefire in the Gaza Strip took effect Sunday.
Three hostages held by Hamas were released Sunday after 471 days in captivity as part of a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group.
Their names are:
- Romi Gonen, 24
- Emily Damari, 28
- Doron Steinbrecher, 31
A gradual release of dozens of captives over the next several weeks has been agreed on.
The truce and release of hostages sparked hope and trepidation among Israelis. Many fear that the three-phase deal could collapse before all the hostages return, or that they will arrive in poor health. Others worry that the number of captives who have died is more than predicted.
Some 250 people were kidnapped during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered 15 months of war. Around 100 hostages still remain in Gaza, after the rest were released, rescued, or their bodies were recovered.
Hours before Sunday’s ceasefire, which many hope is the first step to end the war, Israel announced that it had retrieved the body of Oron Shaul, a soldier who was killed in the 2014 Israel-Hamas war and whose remains have been held by the militants since then.
▶ Read more about the three hostages released Sunday
Drone footage by The Associated Press in the opening hours of the ceasefire in Gaza shows a gray and devastated landscape in the southern city of Khan Younis.
The footage of what had been densely populated neighborhoods shows roofs caved in, shattered buildings and massive support beams holding up nothing at all.
The images also show Palestinians moving on foot on some of the city’s streets as people begin to assess the damage without the threat of Israeli fire.
The United Nations has said much of Gaza’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed.
Families and friends of some of the Palestinians prisoners set to be released from Israel in exchange for hostages in Gaza gathered in Ramallah as cars honked and people waved the Palestinian flag.
About 90 Palestinian prisoners from the West Bank and Jerusalem will be released Sunday after Hamas freed the three Israeli hostages. The Palestinians include 69 women.
Fadia Barghouti was arrested from Ramallah in April and spent three months in prison without being given a reason, she said. Tonight she hopes to see friends she had been detained with.
“I’m happy, because of the ceasefire people can live peacefully,” she said.
She said the war in Gaza is evidence that no one in the Middle East can live peacefully until Palestinians have their rights.
President Joe Biden speaks to the media about today’s hostage release at Royal Missionary Baptist Church in North Charleston, S.C., Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. Three Israeli hostages released from Gaza have been handed over to Israeli forces there in the first test of a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Later on Sunday, Israel is expected to release around 90 Palestinian prisoners. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
U.S. President Joe Biden says “the guns in Gaza have gone silent” under a ceasefire deal he outlined in May.
Biden spoke during a visit to a church in North Charleston, South Carolina.
Speaking of the hostages that were being released under the ceasefire, Biden said he had just received a call saying the three were being released. Although he stressed that it was early and it wasn’t immediately clear whether they were out of Gaza, Biden said: “They appear to be in good health.”
President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for national security adviser says the Gaza ceasefire deal should be “celebrated.”
“We will see three women coming out alive,” Michael Waltz, Trump’s pick to be his national security, told CBS of the first hostages set to be released. “Had we not entered this, these people would have died.”
Waltz said the hostages held by Hamas have been captive longer than U.S. hostages held during the Iranian crisis in 1979, “but now we’re going to have a Reagan moment.”
That recalled those hostage being freed after 444 days when Ronald Reagan took office in 1981.
“We’re going to have President Trump being sworn-in as hostages are coming out alive,” Waltz said.
Three Israeli hostages released from Gaza have been handed over to Israeli forces there in the first test of a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The three hostages are Romi Gonen, 24, kidnapped from the Nova music festival, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza.
Later on Sunday, Israel is expected to release around 90 Palestinian prisoners.
A gradual release of 33 captives over the next six weeks has been agreed on. In exchange, Israel will release almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and Palestinians from Gaza who have been detained.
Palestinians stand amongst the destruction caused by the Israeli air and ground offensive, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, in Rafah, as a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hajjar)
The head of the Rafah municipality in Gaza has told journalists that it has become a “disaster city,” with massive destruction there.
Ahmed al-Sufi said Israel’s military has destroyed a large part of the infrastructure including water, electricity and road networks, in addition to thousands of homes and public facilities.
“Rafah faces a humanitarian tragedy,” he said, as Palestinians across the territory are beginning to discover the scope of the destruction in the first hours of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The 90 Palestinian prisoners set to be released Sunday in exchange for three hostages held by Hamas include 69 women, according to a list provided to The Associated Press.
The youngest is Mahmoud Aliowat, 15.
The prisoners to be released include Khalida Jarrar, 62, a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a leftist faction with an armed group that has carried out attacks on Israelis. New York-based Human Rights Watch said her repeated arrests are part of Israel’s wider crackdown on non-violent political opposition.
Dalal Khaseeb, 53, the sister of former Hamas second-in-command Saleh Arouri, is also on the list, which was provided by Hamas. Arouri was killed in an Israeli strike in a southern Beirut suburb in January 2024.
Also listed for release is Abla Abdelrasoul, 68, the wife of detained PFLP leader Ahmad Saadat who killed an Israeli Cabinet minister in 2001 and has been serving a 30-year sentence.
Even before the ceasefire took effect, celebrations erupted across the territory and some Palestinians began returning to their homes. Israel earlier announced the names of the first three hostages to be freed in exchange for the planned release of 90 Palestinian prisoners.
The truce, which started at 11:15 a.m. local time, is the first step toward ultimately ending the conflict and returning nearly 100 hostages abducted in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack.
An Israeli official confirmed that Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were set to be released later Sunday. Gonen was abducted from the Nova music festival, while the others were kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Damari is an Israeli-British dual citizen.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the families had approved the publication of the names.
▶ Read more about the first day of the ceasefire and the first round of hostage release
The first three hostages set to be released from Gaza were transferred to the Red Cross and were on their way toward Israeli forces, the Israeli military announced Sunday, hours after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold.
Israeli media, carrying live footage from Qatar-based Al Jazeera, showed the hostages walking between vehicles as their convoy moved through Gaza City, surrounded by a huge crowd, with many people holding up phones and filming. 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.
Meanwhile, 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.
