(Jerusalem) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday he wanted to ensure that the Gaza Strip “never presents a threat to Israel again”, on the second day of the truce with Hamas in the Palestinian territory devastated by the war.
Updated yesterday at 4:08 p.m.
Chloé ROUVEYROLLES-BAZIRE and Didier LAURAS with Youssef HASSOUNA in Deir el-Balah
Agence France-Presse
A first exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners marked the start of a long process on Sunday to end 15 months of war.
As soon as the guns fell silent, humanitarian aid began flowing into the ruined Palestinian territory, while thousands of Gaza residents rushed to return to their homes.
On the first day of the truce, three Israeli hostages were released after 471 days of captivity in the Gaza Strip, before being reunited with their loved ones and being hospitalized “in stable condition”, according to a doctor.
PHOTO RANEEN SAWAFTA, REUTERS
Freed Palestinian prisoner Nidaa Zaghebi is greeted by her daughters after her release from an Israeli prison as part of a hostage-prisoner exchange and ceasefire deal in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, on January 20, 2025 in Jenin in the occupied West Bank.
Then very early Monday, 90 Palestinians were released by Israel, under the exchange planned during this first phase of the ceasefire, which is to last 42 days.
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.
The truce came into effect on the eve of the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, who has put intense pressure on both sides to reach a deal before he arrives at the White House.
“The best days of our alliance are yet to come,” Mr. Netanyahu said on Monday, congratulating Donald Trump.
“I look forward to working with you to return the remaining hostages, destroy Hamas’ military capabilities and end its political power in Gaza, and ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel,” he said. he added in a video message.
Mr. Netanyahu had already warned that Israel reserved “the right to resume the war if necessary”.
PHOTO OMAR AL-QATTAA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
As soon as the guns fell silent, thousands of displaced Palestinians took to the roads on Sunday in the Gaza Strip.
“Only ruins”
During the first phase, 33 hostages held in Gaza must be released in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians detained by Israel, and the Israeli army must 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.
In the meantime, thousands of displaced Palestinians took to the roads on Sunday, amid an apocalyptic landscape of dusty ruins and gutted buildings.
“We are finally home. There is no more house, only ruins. But it’s our home,” testified Rana Mohsen, a 43-year-old woman who returned to Jabalia, in the north of the territory.
-Same scene in Rafah, all the way to the south. “We couldn’t even find the exact location of our houses,” said Maria Gad El Haq, also displaced by the war like almost all of Gaza’s 2.4 million residents.
PHOTO DAWOUD ABU ALKAS, REUTERS
Palestinian Hamas activists gather around a vehicle as they hand over Emily Damari, a hostage held in Gaza since the deadly attack on October 7, 2023, to members of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
“Returned to life”
On Sunday, the three freed hostages, 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 armed men.
Their relatives called for the release of all the hostages still held in Gaza, whose families “are still waiting to be able to hug their loved ones, or to bury them properly”, said Mandy Damari, the mother of the ‘Israeli-British Emily Damari.
Her daughter said she “came back to life” in a message on Instagram.
“I am the happiest in the world just by living,” added the young woman.
In Beitunia, near the Israeli Ofer prison, jubilant Palestinians welcomed the first released detainees overnight.
Despite the uncertainties, the agreement reached on January 15 through Qatar, the United States and Egypt nourishes the hope of a lasting peace in the Palestinian territory, where the war was launched on October 7 2023 by the bloody Hamas attack in southern Israel.
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.
“Far-reaching” needs
The Palestinian movement affirmed that the truce depended on “respect for commitments” by Israel. On Monday, he deployed his security forces in the Gaza Strip, in military gear or black uniforms, according to AFP journalists.
In Israel, after the emotion aroused by the first releases of hostages, the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth fears a less happy outcome.
“Some will arrive on stretchers and wheelchairs. Others will arrive in coffins…” wrote columnist Sima Kadmon.
The truce is accompanied by an influx of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, which is under total siege by Israel.
“After 15 months of war, humanitarian needs are staggering,” warned the UN Office of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha), adding that 630 trucks entered Gaza on Sunday, including 300 destined for the north of the territory.
“We are trying to reach one million people as quickly as possible,” the World Food Program said. Qatar announced the daily shipment of more than a million liters of fuel for ten days.
The attack of October 7, 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people on the Israeli side, the majority civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data.
Of 251 people kidnapped, 91 remain hostages in Gaza, 34 of whom died 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 government’s Health Ministry, deemed reliable by the UN.
