“The three hostages were officially handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Saraya Square, in the al-Rimal neighborhood in western Gaza City, after a member of the teams “the ICRC met them and checked on their condition,” a Hamas leader told AFP.
Shortly after, the Israeli army indicated that it had received confirmation from the Red Cross that it had indeed recovered them. They “are on their way” to Israel, she added.
According to the Hostage Families Forum, these are British-Israeli Emily Damari (28 years old) and Romanian-Israeli Doron Steinbrecher (31 years old), captured on kibbutz Kfar Aza, and Romi Gonen ( 24 years old), kidnapped from the Nova music festival, during the attack carried out by the Islamist movement Hamas on October 7, 2023 in the south of Israel.
The entry into force of the agreement fuels hopes for lasting peace in the Palestinian territory, even if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already warned that his forces could take up arms again.
Columns of thousands of displaced Palestinians took to the roads through an apocalyptic landscape of rubble to return home, often to find nothing but ruins.
“It will take us more than 20 years to return to normal life,” laments Siria al-Arouqi, a 52-year-old from Gaza who has just returned to Rafah (south).
Follow the latest information on the progress of the truce agreement:
For Ursula von der Leyen, the release of the Israeli hostages “fills our hearts with hope”
“Seeing the hostages reunited with their families fills our hearts with hope,” declared European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after the release of the first three Israeli hostages, welcoming the ceasefire in Gaza that Europe “will support”.
“Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher are free. Others must follow. May this be the start of a new chapter for Israel and the Palestinian people,” she hoped in a message on the social network “The ceasefire must be respected,” she demanded.
WHO ready to help Gaza but on condition of guaranteed access
The World Health Organization is ready to immediately increase aid to Gaza on condition that it is guaranteed access to the entire Palestinian population throughout the territory whose health infrastructure is largely destroyed or damaged.
“It is essential that security obstacles hampering operations are removed” and WHO “will need conditions on the ground that allow systematic access to the population of Gaza, the influx of aid through all borders and routes possible and the lifting of restrictions on the entry of essential products”, underlines the organization in a press release.
“The health challenges ahead are immense” and the WHO estimated last week at “more than 10 billion dollars” the amount needed to get the health system back on its feet.
The next prisoner exchange will take place on Saturday
The next release of Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza will take place “next Saturday”, a senior Hamas official told AFP on Sunday evening on condition of anonymity.
“The release of the second group of Israeli prisoners will take place on the evening of next Saturday, on the seventh day of the entry into force of the ceasefire agreement,” declared this leader contacted by telephone in Doha, without specify the number of hostages to be released that day, nor the number of Palestinian detainees that Israel should release in exchange.
‘Emily’s nightmare is over,’ says mother of Israeli hostage Emily Damari
The mother of one of the three hostages spoke for the first time about the release of her daughter.
Hamas military wing says Gaza truce depends on Israel ‘compliance with commitments’
The armed wing of Hamas warned on Sunday that the application of the ceasefire will depend on Israel “respecting its commitments” on the first day of the truce and the agreement to exchange hostages and prisoners.
-“We, along with the resistance factions, affirm our total commitment to the ceasefire agreement, while emphasizing that all this remains conditional on the enemy’s commitment,” said Abou Obeida, door -spokesperson for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, in a video message.
Keir Starmer hails “fantastic” news after “months of torment”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday welcomed the “fantastic” news of the release of three Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, including British-Israeli national Emily Damari, and called for the ceasefire agreement to be released. -fire is “fully implemented”.
“The release of the three hostages today (Sunday) is fantastic and long overdue after months of ordeal for them and their families,” he said, adding that today remains “another day of suffering for those who have not yet returned home. He called for the ceasefire agreement, including the release of other hostages and increased humanitarian aid to Gaza, to be “fully implemented and on schedule.”
Netanyahu says freed hostages ‘went through hell’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the three hostages released by Hamas as part of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip “went through hell”, according to a statement from his desk.
In a telephone interview with Gal Hirsh, head of his office’s hostage case, Netanyahu said the three young women had “gone through hell,” adding that they were coming “out of darkness into light.” , from slavery to freedom.
The three hostages released from Gaza arrived in Israel
The Israeli army announced Sunday afternoon that the three hostages released by Hamas, Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Doron Steinbrecher, were in Israeli territory.
“The freed hostages crossed the border on their way to a meeting point in southern Israel,” the army wrote in a statement. “Emily, Doron and Romi are finally on their way home,” Army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on television. “It’s a moment of great emotion,” he added.
Biden welcomes a “fundamentally transformed region”
US President Joe Biden welcomed on Sunday that the Middle East is a “profoundly transformed region” thanks to the ceasefire and hostage release agreement between Israel and Palestinian Hamas which has entered into force.
After so much pain, destruction, loss of life, the guns fell silent today in Gaza,” greeted the Democratic leader on the sidelines of a visit to South Carolina for his last full day as president in office before handing over to Donald Trump on Monday.
The three Israeli hostages were recovered by the Israeli army
The three Israeli hostages were handed over by Hamas to the Red Cross in Gaza City, before being recovered by the Israeli army. Soldiers from an elite unit “accompany them towards Israeli territory”, according to a military statement published late Sunday afternoon.
“The three freed hostages were transferred to army forces and are accompanied by a special unit en route to Israeli territory, where they will undergo a first medical examination,” the text said.
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Agreement on a ceasefire in Gaza: “Israel retains the right to resume the war with the support of Washington,” says Netanyahu
