Hamas has released the first round of three Israeli hostages on Sunday morning, and officials on both sides are hailing the ceasefire deal as it appears to be sticking. For the first time in well over a year, war has been quieted throughout the Strip.
Hostages Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher first reached an Israeli military facility near the border with the Gaza Strip and have been reunited with their families, the IDF has announced. Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari in a press briefing said that Romi, Emily, and Doron and are now in "safe hands". He said, "They are now with us and on their way home."
President Biden in a speech marking the exchange of hostages, and on his last day as US president, declared "Today, the guns in Gaza have gone silent."
"This is one of the toughest negotiations I’ve been part of … but we’ve reached this point today because of the pressure by Israel on Hamas backed by the US," he said.
"Now the region has been fundamentally transformed," he continued, given that both the Hezbollah ceasefire and now Gaza truce are holding. He noted that hundreds of humanitarian aid trucks are entering Gaza from Egypt to assist the desperate population.
United Nations secretary-general also welcomed the huge development in a post on X stating:
I welcome the start of the implementation of the ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza. We stand ready to support this implementation & scale up the delivery of sustained humanitarian relief to the countless Palestinians who continue to suffer.
It is imperative that this ceasefire removes the significant security & political obstacles to delivering aid.
By day's end, the first 90 Palestinian prisoners are expected to be freed as part of the first hostage/prisoner swap. Over 1,000 total will be freed throughout the first 42-day phase of the deal, reports say.
Meanwhile, huge crowds are in central Tel Aviv throughout the night celebrating the release of the hostages, and a deal which some are seeing as a defeat for Netanyahu's stance of wanting to see the military operation through to the end (of Hamas' eradication).
But Hamas is clearly still intact, as now with the ceasefire in effect masked men with green headbands in scarfs have been seen openly on the streets of Gaza.
Biden and the UN chief in their initial remarks called for the deal to be fully implemented across their multiple phases, which will last weeks.
Large celebratory crowds in Tel Aviv watch hostages freed on big screens...
Hamas too said it plans to stick to its commitments inked in Doha, with spokesman Abu Ubaida saying in video address, "The agreement reached could have been made a year ago if it had aligned with [Prime Minister] Netanyahu’s ambitions." He added: "We are committed to the ceasefire agreement, but this depends on the enemy’s adherence."