{"id":36900,"date":"2025-01-19T18:38:19","date_gmt":"2025-01-19T18:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/business\/finance\/three-israeli-hostages-freed-by-hamas-as-ceasefire-begins\/"},"modified":"2025-01-19T18:38:19","modified_gmt":"2025-01-19T18:38:19","slug":"three-israeli-hostages-freed-by-hamas-as-ceasefire-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=36900","title":{"rendered":"Three Israeli hostages freed by Hamas as ceasefire begins"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Israel\u2019s military said three hostages held in Gaza had been handed over to its forces and returned to Israeli territory, as a long-awaited hostage and prisoner exchange deal began on Sunday after 15 months of brutal conflict.<\/p>\n

Television footage appeared to show the three women entering a Red Cross vehicle in Gaza after exiting a pick-up truck, surrounded by a large crowd and dozens of masked and armed militants. Israel said the three were Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, the first of dozens of captives due to be released.<\/p>\n

The handover came hours after a six-week ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect, raising hopes of a pause \u2014 and potentially an end \u2014 to the bloodiest chapter in the decades-long history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: a war that has left Gaza in ruins, consumed Israeli society and brought the Middle East to the brink of a full-blown regional war.<\/p>\n

As the fighting ended on Sunday, Gazans took to the streets in celebration and began returning to the ruins of their homes, while in some cities, uniformed Hamas militants and police were in evidence after months of guerrilla war. In Israel, relatives of hostages and their supporters gathered in Tel Aviv to watch live broadcasts of the first returns.<\/p>\n

\"Supporters<\/picture>
Supporters and relatives of hostages held captive in Gaza embrace each other while watching a live television broadcast of Sunday\u2019s hostage release<\/span> \u00a9 Menahem Kahana\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The truce, the first stage of a three-phase agreement thrashed out by US-led mediators last week after months of failed attempts, had been due to take effect early on Sunday. But the fragile ceasefire began nearly three hours late, with Israel continuing to bomb Gaza after a delay in Hamas providing names of the hostages to be released.<\/p>\n

Some 90 Palestinian prisoners were due to be freed later on Sunday in exchange for the hostages. The next exchange will take place in seven days\u2019 time, with four more hostages freed.<\/p>\n

The chances of the agreement being implemented in full remain uncertain, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under intense pressure from far-right allies to resume fighting once the deal\u2019s first phase is complete.<\/p>\n

The fighting in Gaza was triggered by Hamas\u2019s shock October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, during which militants killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials, and took a further 250 hostages in the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust.<\/p>\n

Israel responded with a devastating assault on Gaza, which has killed more than 46,000 people, according to Palestinian officials. It has displaced most of the coastal enclave\u2019s 2.3mn people and fuelled a humanitarian catastrophe.<\/p>\n

As the release of the first hostages neared, a crowd gathered in a Tel Aviv plaza renamed Hostage Square after Hamas\u2019s attack. Yair Keshet, whose nephew Yarden Bibas, Yarden\u2019s wife Shiri and their two young children are among those due to be released in the deal\u2019s first phase, said the whole family was \u201cwaiting\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s all we can do. There\u2019s a deal now at least. But every day is a landmine. There could be issues [that derail the deal],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In Gaza, celebrations spread early in the day, while many of the hundreds of thousands of displaced were preparing to return to their homes. One, Mohamed Abu Ismail, returned to Jabalia camp in the north of Gaza to find only ruins.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople arrive in Jabalia, get shocked, weep and go back to Gaza City,\u201d he said. \u201cThere is nothing\u00a0to sustain life here. Even the schools that were sheltering displaced people have been burnt. All features\u00a0of Jabalia have been erased, nothing is left standing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mohamed Bassal, spokesperson for Gaza\u2019s civil defence agency, said its teams were starting to retrieve bodies from areas vacated by Israeli forces, while\u00a0police who operated when Hamas ruled the enclave\u00a0had begun redeploying in cities.<\/p>\n

Hamas fighters also began to resurface, with footage showing armed men in cars driving in convoy through various locations in the enclave, including Rafah and Khan Younis. <\/p>\n

Under the deal struck last week, the first phase will involve a six-week truce, during which Hamas will release 33 of 97 hostages still in Gaza \u2014 including children, women, the sick and elderly \u2014 in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners.<\/p>\n

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A woman stands next to images of hostages held in Gaza in a square in Tel Aviv on Sunday<\/span> \u00a9 Shir Torem\/Reuters<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During this time, displaced Palestinians will be allowed to return to their homes, Israeli troops will partially withdraw from the enclave and humanitarian aid will sharply increase.<\/p>\n

By day 16 of the first phase, Israel and Hamas are due to start negotiating details of the second phase<\/a>, during which the remaining living hostages will be freed in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and a permanent end to the war.<\/p>\n

The final phase will involve the return of bodies of deceased hostages and the beginning of Gaza\u2019s reconstruction.<\/p>\n

But in a sign of the hostility of Israel\u2019s far-right to the deal, shortly before it took effect, far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir pulled his Jewish Power party out of the government, reducing Netanyahu\u2019s majority in Israel\u2019s 120-seat parliament to just two.<\/p>\n