‘Ceasefire Deal!’ Hamas Releases 3 Israeli Hostages in Exchange for 90 Palestinian Prisoners (Photos)

Hamas on Sunday released three Israeli hostages while Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners on the first day of the ceasefire that halted the 15-month-old war in Gaza.

UN officials said over 630 trucks of humanitarian aid entered the besieged Gaza Strip, and at least 300 of them were in the north, one of the most affected places during the war.

The three Israeli hostages, who were released by Hamas and handed over to Israel, were reunited with their families, while jubilant Palestinians returned to their bombed-out homes after the ceasefire came into effect.

This was the first phase of the ceasefire deal that came into effect after a three-hour delay when Israel blamed Hamas for being late to provide a list of the hostages it would free. During the delay, Israeli warplanes struck Gaza and killed 13 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.

This is what we’ve been fighting for, for over 471 days. Welcome home Emily, Doron and Romi 🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/VIXyaP1ntY

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) January 19, 2025

The Israeli military said Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari reunited with their mothers inside Israel after 471 days. The girls met them close to the point where they were abducted by Hamas from a music festival on October 7, 2023, that triggered the war in Gaza.

The three girls appeared to be in good health according to a video released by the Israeli military. Damari, who lost two fingers on the day she was shot and abducted by Hamas, could be seen smiling and embracing her mother as she held up a bandaged hand.

Hundreds of Israelis in Tel Aviv watched a live broadcast from Gaza showing the three girls getting into a Red Cross vehicle surrounded by armed Hamas terrorists, and cheered as they crossed the border.

According to report retrieved by OwelekeTV News, Hamas said the delay in sharing the hostages’ names was due to technical reasons. After the issue was sorted, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the three hostages through a phone call as they were driven across the border.

If the ceasefire holds, the next exchange will be held on January 25. As part of the deal, Hamas is expected to release four hostages while Israel will free 30-50 Palestinian prisoners.

US President Joe Biden, on his last day in office, welcomed the truce and said “it was a long road”. He stressed that “the guns in Gaza have gone silent” and said the deal was reached due to the pressure “Israel applied on Hamas backed by the US”.

The ceasefire deal urges Israel and Hamas to stop fighting, sending tons of humanitarian aid into Gaza and release of 33 of nearly 100 Israeli and foreign hostages in exchange for the freeing of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

The truce came into effect a day before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office. His national security advisor-designate, Mike Waltz, has warned that the US would support Israel “in doing what it has to do” if Hamas violated the agreement. Waltz also said that Hamas would not govern Gaza, stressing it was “completely unacceptable”.

Before the ceasefire came into effect, long lines of trucks carrying fuel and aid supplies queued up at border crossings. The World Food Programme said they began to cross on Sunday morning.

Hamas terrorists stormed Israeli towns and villages through air, land and sea on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 as hostages. Israel launched a deadly counter-offensive on Hamas in Gaza, leaving more than 47,000 Palestinians dead and nearly the entire 2.3 million population homeless.