Israel releases Palestinian detainees and Hamas frees captives on the first day of the ceasefire

On Sunday, the first day of a truce that halted a 15-month-old conflict that has wreaked havoc on the Gaza Strip and tense the Middle East, Israel freed 90 Palestinian captives and Hamas freed three Israeli hostages.

The truce allowed relief trucks to bring much-needed assistance while Palestinians were able to return to communities that had been blasted out and start rebuilding their lives. Crowds in other parts of Gaza celebrated as Hamas fighters came out of hiding.

When busses transporting the Palestinian inmates arrived in Ramallah on the West Bank, hundreds of Palestinians gathered to greet them, and fireworks were set off in jubilation. According to Hamas, among those released from Israeli jails were 21 adolescent males and 69 women from the West Bank and Jerusalem.

Three female hostages were seen boarding a Red Cross truck surrounded by Hamas fighters in a live feed from Gaza, amid the cheers and tears of hundreds of Israelis in a square outside the defense headquarters in Tel Aviv.

Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari were reunited with their moms, according to the Israeli military, which also published a video of them appearing to be in excellent health. She brought up a bandaged hand, and Damari, who had been shot the day she was kidnapped and lost two fingers, grinned and hugged her mother.

“Please let them know that Romi, Doron, and Emily are loved by the entire country. “Welcome home,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said over the phone to a commander.

The women were given extended embraces at Sheba Medical Center that ranged from tears to laughs as they were reunited with their relatives. There was an Israeli flag draped over a smiling Damari. They were among the 1,200 people slain and almost 250 kidnapped in an Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, according to Israel.

According to Gaza medical officials, Israeli strikes have subsequently killed over 47,000 Palestinians. There are almost all of Gaza’s 2.3 million people without a place to live. Also, almost 400 Israeli soldiers have lost their lives.

During the first six weeks of the truce, 33 of the approximately 100 Israeli and foreign captives will be released, combat will cease, and supplies will be provided to Gaza in exchange for over 2,000 Palestinian inmates detained in Israeli prisons. A large number of the captives are thought to be dead.

In the most severe combat of the conflict, Palestinians battled their way through a devastation of twisted metal and wreckage in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

“I feel like I finally found some water to drink after being lost in the desert for 15 months,” Aya, who had been exiled from her home in Gaza City for almost a year, said.

After three hours of delay, during which Israeli artillery and bombers bombarded the Gaza Strip, the first phase of the truce went into force.

13 Palestinians were murdered in the last-minute blitz, according to Palestinian health officials. When Hamas failed to provide the names of the hostages it would release on time, Israel accused the group of hitting terrorists. According to Hamas, the list’s delay was due to technological difficulties.

“Today the guns in Gaza have gone silent,” U.S. President Joe Biden declared on his final day in office, embracing a ceasefire that had evaded American diplomacy for almost a year. “We’ve reached this point today because of the pressure Israel built on Hamas, backed by the United States.”

The ceasefire gave Hamas a chance to come out of hiding after fighting for 15 months. The armed fighters drove into the southern city of Khan Younis, where a throng chanted “Greetings to Al-Qassam Brigades,” the group’s armed branch, while Hamas police officers in blue police uniforms quickly deployed in other places.

One combatant told Reuters, “Despite Netanyahu, all the resistance factions are staying.”

Trump aide: “Gaza will never be governed by Hamas”

There isn’t even a comprehensive strategy in place for rebuilding or governing Gaza after the conflict. Israel has stated that it will restart fighting until the militant group is completely destroyed, so any return of Hamas would put its patience to the test.

The Hardline Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, resigned from the cabinet over the truce, but his party declared it would not attempt to topple Netanyahu’s administration. Although he remained in the administration, Bezalel Smotrich, the other most well-known hardliner, declared that he would resign if the war ended without Hamas being totally destroyed.

On the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration as the next president of the United States, the ceasefire went into force. In the event that Hamas breaches the deal, the United States would assist Israel “in doing what it has to do,” according to Mike Waltz, Trump’s nominee for national security advisor.

It is impossible for Hamas to rule Gaza. “That’s totally unacceptable,” he declared.

Already, crowds of Palestinians were capturing the sights on their cell phones and waving the Palestinian flag in the streets of the crumbled city of Gaza. Along a road strewn with dirt and rubble, a number of carts carrying household items moved.

Gaza City resident Ahmed Abu Ayham, 40, said that although the truce may have saved lives, there was no reason to rejoice given the casualties and devastation.

“We are in pain, deep pain and it is time to hug one another and cry,” he declared.