Gaza ceasefire begins with dramatic release of 3 Israeli hostages

Once the guns fell silent, Palestinians celebrated in the streets of Gaza while Israelis streamed into Tel Aviv’s “Hostages Square” to await their return.

JERUSALEM — After 15 months of war, a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip took effect Sunday morning, paving the way for a dramatic day that saw Hamas free the first of 33 Israeli hostages — three women who had languished in captivity for 471 days.

In exchange, Israel was supposed to release 90 Palestinian prisoners on Sunday — all of them women and children — but shortly past midnight local time, families that had gathered outside the Ofer Prison in the West Bank were still waiting in the cold.

The ceasefire was initially scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. local time, but was delayed after Hamas was late to provide the hostages’ names to mediators, and Israel carried out last-minute strikes against the militant group’s facilities, the Israeli military said.

Eventually, the guns fell silent. And once Israel announced that the ceasefire would begin at 11:15 a.m., Palestinians launched into jubilant celebrations in the streets of Gaza while Israelis streamed into the Tel Aviv plaza known as “Hostages Square” to await the return of the first three hostages, identified as Roni Gonen, 24; Emily Tehila Damari, 28; and Doron Steinbrecher, 31.

A total of 33 Israeli hostages, most of whom are presumed to be alive, will be gradually freed on every seven days over the next 42 days under the ceasefire agreement’s first phase. If negotiations over the more politically fraught second phase succeed in the coming weeks and the truce holds, an additional 64 hostages are set to be freed. It’s not clear how many of the remaining hostages are alive or dead.

Live footage carried by the Al Jazeera news network showed a chaotic scene in Gaza City’s bombed-out Saraya Square on Sunday afternoon, as workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross, which is responsible for the hostage transfers, arrived to retrieve the three Israelis from Hamas. Hundreds of Palestinian civilians swarmed the vehicles and climbed atop billboards to catch a glimpse of the hostage handover as ranks of masked Hamas fighters toting assault rifles struggled to control the crowd.

Shortly after 5 p.m., Hamas gunmen opened the doors of a white minivan, flashed a thumbs up and shuffled the Israeli hostages into the waiting Red Cross vehicles, sparking feverish celebrations in the square, footage showed. The hostages were driven back toward the Gaza border, where they were received by Israeli security forces shortly after sundown.

By 6 p.m., hundreds of Israelis had gathered in Hostages Square to watch newscasts shown on giant television screens. The crowd cheered, clapped, cried and hugged one another when each incremental update was reported: as the women were handed back to the Israel Defense Forces, as they were reunited with their families, as they were determined to be in a “good state” after a preliminary medical check. Some sang in unison: “Time has come to return home.”

Beyond the preliminary medical assessment, little was known Sunday night about the status of the three women, or the injuries or traumas they bore. A screenshot of Damari on a FaceTime call with her family, which was released by the IDF, showed her in a green sweatshirt, smiling next to her mother, raising a hand with only three fingers because of injuries she sustained during her abduction.

“After 471 days Emily is finally home,” said Mandy, Emily’s mother, in a statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families’ Forum, which represents most of the hostage families. “While Emily’s nightmare in Gaza is over, for too many other families the impossible wait continues.”

On X, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heralded their return.

“Romi, Doron, and Emily — an entire nation embraces you; welcome home,” he wrote on X. “This moment was achieved thanks to the sacrifice and bravery of our heroic fighters — Israel’s heroes. I promise: we will bring everyone home.”