Palestinian detainees greeted with joy in West Bank after earlier release of three Israeli hostages on Sunday
Full report: Palestinians celebrate as prisoners freed‘I can’t believe I have survived’: the day the Gaza ceasefire finally arrived
We have some comments from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which facilitated the release and transfer of three Israeli hostages and 90 Palestinian prisoners in the ceasefire’s first such exchange. The ICRC president Mirjana Spoljaric said ensuring the safety of the people being transferred was the priority, with “large crowds” containing people with “heightened emotions” posing “challenges” in a “complex” operation – both logistical and otherwise.
There were also risks posed by unexploded ordnances and destroyed infrastructure, the ICRC, which has urged all parties to adhere to the requirements of the ceasefire, said.
Ninety Palestinian prisoners were released early on Monday as part of the ceasefire deal. Those freed from Israeli prisons included 69 women and 21 teenage boys from the West Bank and Jerusalem, according to Hamas. The prisoners, most of whom were freed from Ofer prison in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, were welcomed by thousands of people celebrating.
It followed the release of three Israeli women held hostage by Hamas in tunnels beneath Gaza after being abducted by Hamas on 7 October 2023. Among those released was joint British national Emily Damari, 28, who was freed alongside Romi Gonen, 24 and Doron Steinbrecher, 31. The women have been reunited with their mothers after being handed over by the International Committee for the Red Cross.
As the fighting ceased, hundreds of aid trucks queued to enter Gaza to deliver supplies to its 2.3 million residents, 90% of whom have been displaced by the conflict, many multiple times.
The World Health Organization says it is ready to pour much-needed aid into Gaza during the Israel-Hamas truce, but that it would need “systematic access” across the territory to do so. Much of the Gaza Strip’s health infrastructure has been destroyed by Israeli attacks over the more than year-long war.
The first phase of the truce took effect after a three-hour delay during which Israeli warplanes and artillery pounded the Gaza Strip. At least 13 people were killed, Palestinian health authorities said. Al Jazeera reported that at least two missiles hit a family travelling on a donkey cart as they tried to return home.
Thousands of displaced Palestinian people have started to return home, many to destroyed buildings and homes in ruins. There is no detailed plan in place to govern Gaza after the war, much less rebuild it. Nine in 10 homes have been destroyed as well as schools, hospitals, shops, mosques and cemeteries.
Under the first phase of the ceasefire deal, which is to last 42 days, Hamas has agreed to release 33 hostages including children, women (including female soldiers) and men aged over 50, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
In the second phase, the remaining living hostages are due to be sent back and a corresponding ratio of Palestinian prisoners will be freed, and Israel will completely withdraw from the territory. The specifics are subject to further negotiations, which are due to start 16 days into the first phase.
The third phase will address the exchange of bodies of deceased hostages and Hamas members, and a reconstruction plan for Gaza will be launched. Arrangements for future governance of the strip remain hazy.