As ceasefire takes hold, Hamas returns 3 Israeli hostages and Israel frees 90 Palestinian prisoners

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — After 15 months of collective grief and anxiety, three Israeli hostages left Hamas captivity and returned to Israel, and dozens of Palestinian prisoners were released from Israeli prison, leaving Israelis and Palestinians torn between celebration and concern. The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect on Sunday.

The skies over Gaza and Israel fell silent for the first time in more than a year, and Palestinians began returning to what remained of the homes they had fled across the war-ravaged enclave. war, began to check on loved ones left behind and, in many cases, to bury their dead. After months of strict Israeli restrictions, more than 600 trucks carrying humanitarian aid have arrived in the devastated territory.

The ceasefire that took effect Sunday morning raised modest hopes of ending the war between Israel and Hamas.

But in Israel, the joy of seeing freed hostages Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher reunited with their families was tempered by major questions about the fate of the hundred others kidnapped during the Hamas attack on October 7 2023, still in progress. captivity in Gaza.

Damari, Gonen and Steinbrecher were the first of 33 Israeli hostages expected to be released in the next six weeks under a deal that includes a pause in fighting, the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and an increase in deliveries fuel and aid to Gaza.

What will happen after the first 42-day phase of the deal is uncertain. Later stages of the deal call for more hostage and prisoner releases and a definitive end to the war.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been under pressure from both the outgoing Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration to reach a deal before the president-elect’s inauguration Monday in Washington, said he had received Trump assures him that Israel could continue to fight Hamas if necessary.

On Sunday, many Israelis remained glued to television screens all afternoon to catch a glimpse of the freed women through the windows of the Red Cross ambulance. Footage showed them surrounded by thousands of jostling Palestinians, including Hamas gunmen wearing green headbands, as activists handed them over to the Red Cross on a crowded street in Gaza City.

“An entire nation embraces you,” Netanyahu said.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right lawmaker who resigned from Netanyahu’s governing coalition on Sunday over the ceasefire, said the nation was “happy and excited” about their release .

In videos released by the Israeli government, the women were seen crying and hugging family members. Damari raised her bandaged hand in triumph.

The army said it lost two fingers in the attack by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023, which killed more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and led to the kidnapping of some 250 more.

Applause broke out among the thousands gathered to watch the harrowing scenes broadcast on large screens in Hostages Square, the Tel Aviv square where families and supporters of the hostages demonstrate weekly to demand a ceasefire deal. -fire.

It took another seven hours for such scenes to unfold in the occupied West Bank, where the mood was initially calm when the Israeli military warned that public celebrations honoring freed prisoners would be punished.

But scuffles with Israeli security forces and hours of waiting did not deter the crowds that filled the streets around 1 a.m., as large white buses carrying 90 Palestinian detainees – all women or teenagers – emerged from the gates of Ofer prison, near the West Bank town. from Ramallah.

Drivers revved their engines to celebrate. Fireworks went off. Several men got on the bus and raised three Hamas flags. “God is greater!” » » shouted the crowds.

Many of those released expressed joy tinged with sorrow at the devastation wrought by the war in Gaza.

A “double feeling” is how the most important released inmate, Khalida Jarrar, 62, described it. Jarrar is a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a left-wing secular faction that was involved in attacks on Israel in the 1970s but later reduced its activist activities. Since her arrest in late 2023, she has been placed in indefinitely renewable administrative detention – a widely criticized practice that Israel uses against Palestinians.

“There is this double feeling in which we live, on the one hand, this feeling of freedom, for which we thank everyone, and on the other hand, this pain, of losing so many Palestinian martyrs,” he said. -she told the Associated Press.

All those released had been arrested for what Israel calls security-related crimes, from throwing stones and promoting violence on social media to more serious charges such as attempted murder.

The next release of hostages and prisoners is scheduled for Saturday. In just over two weeks, negotiations on the much more difficult second phase of the ceasefire agreement are due to begin.

“Joy mixed with pain”

In Gaza, there was palpable relief at the prospect of six weeks without Israeli fighting or bombing that has so far killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which says women and children represent more than half of the deaths, but does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The skies above the besieged territory were clear of Israeli warplanes for the first day since a week-long ceasefire in November 2023 that freed more than 100 hostages, providing Palestinians with an opportunity to make update on the devastation.

“This ceasefire has been joy mixed with pain,” said Rami Nofal, a displaced man from Gaza City, explaining that his son was killed in an Israeli airstrike.

Triumphant Hamas militants appeared at some celebrations, as crowds chanted slogans in their favor. The Hamas-led police emerged from several months of hiding.

Some families return home on foot, their belongings loaded onto carts pulled by donkeys.

In the southern city of Rafah, residents returned home to see massive destruction that they described as dystopia. Some found human remains in the rubble.

“It’s like what you see in a Hollywood horror film,” said Mohamed Abu Taha as he surveyed the ruins of the family home.

Israelis divided over deal

In Israel, scenes of Hamas gunmen openly celebrating in the streets of Gaza highlighted divisions over the ceasefire deal.

Asher Pizem, 35, from the town of Sderot, said the deal simply postponed the next confrontation between Israel and Hamas. He also criticized Israel for allowing aid to Gaza, saying it would contribute to the revival of the militant group.

“They will take their time and attack again,” he said, looking out at the smoldering ruins of Gaza from a small hill in southern Israel with other Israelis gathered to witness the entry into force of the agreement. Warplanes roared, helicopters roared and drones buzzed in the final moments before the ceasefire.

A huge toll

The toll of the war is staggering, and new details about its scale and impact will emerge.

Israeli forces were withdrawing from parts of Gaza in accordance with the ceasefire agreement, residents of northern Gaza reported. One resident said he saw bodies in the streets of the northern Jabaliya camp that appeared to have been there for weeks.

Around 90% of Gaza’s population has been displaced. Reconstruction – if the ceasefire results in the end of the war – will take at least several years.

There is expected to be an influx of humanitarian aid, with hundreds of trucks entering Gaza daily, far more than Israel previously allowed.

“This is a moment of immense hope,” said humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher. “Fragile, but vital. »

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Magdy reported from Cairo, Shurafa from Deir al-Balah, in the Gaza Strip, Lidman from Narariya, in Israel. Associated Press reporters Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Mohammad Jahjouh in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, contributed to this report.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war