This combination of undated photos obtained on January 19, 2025 at the Hostages Families Forum headquarters shows images (from left) of Israeli hostages Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher (the Hostages Families Forum Headquarters / -)
The three hostages released on Sunday by Hamas arrived in Israel, on the first day of the ceasefire between the Israeli army and the Palestinian Islamist movement in the Gaza Strip devastated by more than 15 months of war.
Thousands of displaced Palestinians took to the roads to return home when the guns fell silent at 09:15 GMT. Most found only ruins there, like Siria al-Arouqi, who spoke of “indescribable” destruction.
The truce, which comes on the eve of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, came into force almost three hours late, Hamas having delayed providing the list of three Israeli hostages to be released during the day in exchange of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel according to the negotiated agreement.
“The three hostages were officially handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (…) in the west of Gaza City” (north), a Hamas leader declared late in the afternoon. ‘AFP.
Shortly after, the Israeli army said they were “en route to a meeting point in southern Israel.”
They are the British-Israeli Emily Damari (28 years old) and the Romanian-Israeli Doron Steinbrecher (31), both captured at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, as well as Romi Gonen (24), kidnapped at the festival of Nova music, during the attack carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023 in southern Israel which sparked the war in Gaza.
“This is a moment of great emotion,” said Daniel Hagari, army spokesman.
A senior Hamas official told AFP that the next release of hostages would take place “next Saturday”.
Displaced Palestinians carry their belongings as they walk amid devastation upon their return to the center of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on January 19, 2025 (AFP/BASHAR TALEB)
The entry into force of the agreement fuels hopes for lasting peace in the Palestinian territory, even if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that it was “a provisional ceasefire” and that Israel reserved “the right to resume the war.”
Hamas’ military wing said the truce depended on Israel “compliance with commitments.”
A few minutes after the ceasefire came into force, which also provides for an increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza, the UN announced the arrival of the first aid trucks.
– “Pains” –
A man fixes a Palestinian flag on the antenna of a destroyed building in the Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip, January 19, 2025 (AFP / Omar AL-QATTAA)
In Gaza, some made the “V” for victory or waved the Palestinian flag.
But in Jabalia (north), the epicenter of an intense Israeli offensive since October, “there is nothing left”, deplores Walid Abou Jiab, who is one of the 2.4 million Palestinians, the majority of whom have been displaced by the war.
Between the scheduled start of the truce and its entry into force, Israel carried out strikes in Gaza that killed eight Palestinians, according to local Civil Defense.
Hamas justified its delay in handing over the list of hostages by “complications on the ground and the continuation of the bombings”.
Map showing Israel, the Palestinian territories, the Golan Heights and nearby countries (AFP / Valentina BRESCHI)
Announced on Wednesday by the mediators – Qatar, United States, Egypt -, the agreement aims ultimately, according to Doha, to lead to the “definitive end” of the war.
-US President Joe Biden welcomed the ceasefire “after so much pain, destruction, loss of life”.
Under the terms of the agreement, hostilities must cease and 33 Israeli hostages must be released in an initial phase of six weeks.
In exchange, the Israeli authorities said they would release some 1,900 Palestinians within this period, 90 of whom should be released on Sunday, according to Hamas, which said it was waiting for the list.
– “Hell” –
The three hostages were handed over to the Red Cross in a square in Gaza City in the middle of a compact crowd of Gazans and a multitude of hooded armed men belonging to the armed wing of Hamas.
People react while watching a live television broadcast on the release of Israeli hostages, in “Hostage Square” in Tel Aviv, January 19, 2025 (AFP / Menahem Kahana)
After 471 days of captivity, Mr. Netanyahu said they had “gone through hell” and were emerging “from darkness into light, from slavery into freedom.”
Gathered alongside soldiers in an undisclosed location, their families screamed, jumped for joy and cried as they saw their loved ones return to Israel, according to army footage.
The mothers of the three women were then reunited with their daughters.
“Emily’s nightmare in Gaza is over,” her mother said, adding, however, that “for too many other families, the impossible wait continues.”
“Seeing the hostages reunited with their families fills our hearts with hope,” commented the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on X.
– “Obstacles” –
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres declared that it was “imperative” that the ceasefire “removes the significant security and political obstacles to the delivery of aid”.
According to Egypt, the agreement provides for “the entry of 600 aid trucks per day”. According to an Egyptian official, “260 trucks of aid and 16 of fuel.”
During the first phase of the truce, the modalities of the second will be negotiated, which should allow the release of the last hostages, before the last stage relating to the reconstruction of Gaza and the restitution of the bodies of the hostages who died in captivity.
According to Joe Biden, the first phase also includes an Israeli withdrawal from densely populated areas in Gaza.
As the question of governance of the small Palestinian territory after the war arises, French President Emmanuel Macron stressed to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas the importance of “being able to restore Palestinian governance in Gaza fully involving the Palestinian Authority.”
Israelis hold signs and light candles during an anti-government demonstration calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, in front of the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv on January 18, 2025 (AFP / Jack GUEZ)
The October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people on the Israeli side, the majority of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data. Of 251 people kidnapped that day, 91 remain hostages in Gaza, including 34 dead according to the Israeli army.
At least 46,913 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the Israeli retaliatory offensive in Gaza, according to data from the Hamas Health Ministry deemed reliable by the UN.
