“I am the happiest in the world just by being alive”
Emily Damari, 28, Doron Steinbrecher, 31, and Romi Gonen, 24, were handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza City, amid a crowd of civilians and men armed. The first, Israeli-British, declared on Monday that she had “come back to life” in a message on Instagram. “I am the happiest in the world just by living,” added the young woman who lost two fingers during her captivity.
The next releases on Saturday
Very early Monday, 90 Palestinians were released by Israel, under the exchange planned during this first phase of the ceasefire, which is to last forty-two days. In Beitunia, near the Israeli Ofer prison, jubilant Palestinians welcomed the first released detainees overnight. It was “hell, hell, hell,” said one of them, Abdoul Aziz Mouhammad Atawneh.
The next releases will take place on Saturday, according to an official from the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. “Three or four kidnapped women” will be released each week, according to the army. In the first phase, a total of 33 hostages held in Gaza are to be released in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians held by Israel, and the Israeli army is to withdraw from part of the territory. But the rest of the schedule remains uncertain. The terms of the second phase, which should see a definitive end to the war and the release of all hostages, must be negotiated over the next six weeks.
-Towards lasting peace?
Despite the uncertainties, the agreement reached on January 15 through Qatar, the United States and Egypt nourishes the hope of lasting peace in the Palestinian territory. If the first two stages go as planned, the third and final will focus on the reconstruction of Gaza and the return of the bodies of dead hostages.
Thousands of displaced Palestinians took to the road to return to their homes.
BASHAR TALEB / AFP
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, warned that Israel reserved “the right to resume the war if necessary”. He had repeatedly stated that the aim of the war was to dismantle Hamas’s military and political capabilities. The Palestinian movement affirmed that the truce depended on “respect for commitments” by Israel. On Monday, he deployed his security forces to the Gaza Strip, in military gear or black uniforms.
