Monday, January 20, 2025 -After 15 months of war, three Israeli hostages left Hamas captivity and returned to Israel, and 90 Palestinian prisoners walked free from Israeli jail, as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect on Sunday, January 19.
There were
no airstrikes in Gaza for the first time in over a year, and Palestinians began
returning to what was left of the homes they fled across the war-ravaged
enclave, and to bury their dead.
Also,
after months of tight Israeli restrictions, more than 600 trucks carrying
humanitarian aid rolled into Gaza.
In Israel, hostages Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Doron Steinbrecher reunited with their families, but questions arose over the nearly 100 others abducted in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, who are still in captivity in Gaza.
Damari,
Gonen and Steinbrecher were the first among 33 Israeli hostages who are meant
to be released in the coming six weeks in a deal that includes a pause in
fighting, the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and increased fuel
and aid deliveries for Gaza.
Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was pressured by the outgoing Biden
administration and incoming Trump administration to secure a deal before the
president-elect's inauguration Monday in Washington, has said he received
assurances from Trump that Israel could continue fighting Hamas if necessary.
On Sunday night, many Israelis stayed glued to TV screens all afternoon to glimpse the women being released through the windows of the Red Cross ambulance
Footage showed them thronged by thousands of jostling
Palestinians, including Hamas gunmen wearing green headbands, as militants
handed them over to the Red Cross on a packed street in Gaza City.
“An entire nation embraces you,” Netanyahu said.
Applause erupted among the thousands who gathered to watch the poignant scenes on large screens at Hostages Square, the Tel Aviv plaza where families and supporters of hostages have been protesting weekly to demand a ceasefire deal.
In the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military warned that
public celebrations for the released prisoners would be punished but scuffles
with Israeli security forces and hours of waiting did little to deter the
crowds that flooded the streets around 1 a.m., as large white buses carrying 90
Palestinian detainees, all women or teens — exited the gates of Ofer prison,
near the West Bank city of Ramallah.
The next release of hostages and prisoners is due Saturday. In just over two weeks, talks are to begin on the far more challenging second phase of the ceasefire agreement.
In Gaza, there was palpable
relief at the prospect of six weeks without fighting and Israeli bombardment
that so far has killed over 46,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health
Ministry, which says women and children make up more than half the fatalities
but does not distinguish between civilians and fighters.
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