Three ex-Hamas hostages arrived in Israel on the first day of truce in Gaza – 01/19/2025 at 10:04 p.m.

Three hostages released on Sunday by Hamas were reunited with their families 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 in the middle of an apocalyptic landscape to return home when the guns fell silent at 09:15 GMT. “We couldn’t even find the exact location of our houses” because of “the scale of the destruction,” lamented Maria Gad El Haq, in Rafah (south).

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 on Sunday in exchange for prisoners Palestinians detained by Israel.

“The three hostages were officially handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross” in Gaza City (north), a Hamas leader told AFP late in the afternoon.

Shortly after, the Israeli army said they were “en route to a meeting point in southern Israel.”

They are British-Israeli Emily Damari (28) and Romanian-Israeli Doron Steinbrecher (31), captured at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, as well as Romi Gonen (24), kidnapped at the Nova music festival , during the attack carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023 in Israel which sparked the war in Gaza.

“It’s a moment of great emotion,” said Daniel Hagari, army spokesperson, adding that “between three and four kidnapped women” would be “released every week.”

A senior Hamas official then told AFP that the next release would take place “next Saturday”.

The entry into force of the agreement nourishes the hope of lasting peace in the Palestinian territory, even if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel reserved “the right to resume the war if necessary”.

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” –

In the north of the Palestinian territory, there is “nothing” left of Jabalia, the scene of an intense Israeli offensive, 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 in particular by “the continuation of the bombings”.

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”.

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.

Meanwhile, dozens of Palestinians gathered outside the Israeli Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank, despite the bitter cold of the night.

– “Etat stable” –

The three young women released on Sunday “went through hell” after 471 days of captivity, Mr. Netanyahu responded upon their arrival in Israel.

Reunited, their families screamed, jumped for joy and cried as they saw their loved ones return home, according to army footage.

The mothers of the ex-hostages were then reunited with their daughters. The Army released a photo of Emily Damari, smiling and posing with her mother.

They were then transferred to Sheba Hospital near Tel Aviv, which said they were “in stable condition.”

“Seeing the hostages reunited with their families fills our hearts with hope,” commented the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

On “Hostage Square” in Tel Aviv, thousands of people welcomed their return with tears, songs, applause and hugs: “It’s a feeling we haven’t felt for over a year.” Roni Tarnovyski, 23, a friend of Emily Damari, told AFPTV.

– “Obstacles” –

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres declared that it was “imperative” that the truce “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” had entered by the end of the day on Sunday.

“We are trying to reach a million people as quickly as possible,” Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program, told AFP.

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.

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.