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 walked free from Israeli jail, leaving both Israelis and Palestinians torn between celebration and trepidation as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold Sunday.

The skies above Gaza and Israel were silent for the first time in over a year, and Palestinians began returning to what was left of the homes they fled across the war-ravaged enclave, started to check on relatives left behind and, in many cases, to bury their dead. After months of tight Israeli restrictions, more than 600 trucks carrying humanitarian aid rolled into the devastated territory.

The ceasefire that went into effect Sunday morning stirred modest hopes for ending the Israel-Hamas war.

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 over the fate of the nearly 100 others abducted in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, still in captivity in Gaza.

Damari, Gonen and Steinbrecher were the first among 33 Israeli hostages who are meant to be released in the coming six weeks in a deal that includes a pause in fighting, the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and increased fuel and aid deliveries for Gaza.

What happens after the deal's first phase of 42 days is uncertain. The agreement's subsequent stages call for more releases of hostages and prisoners and a permanent end to the war.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was pressured by the outgoing Biden administration and incoming Trump administration to secure a deal before the president-elect's inauguration Monday in Washington, has said he received assurances from Trump that Israel could continue fighting Hamas if necessary.

On Sunday, many Israelis stayed glued to TV screens all afternoon to glimpse the women being released through the windows of the Red Cross ambulance. Footage showed them thronged by thousands of jostling Palestinians, including Hamas gunmen wearing green headbands, as militants handed them over to the Red Cross on a packed street in Gaza City.

“An entire nation embraces you,” Netanyahu said.

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

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

The military said she lost two fingers in the Hamas-led militant attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed over 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and resulted in the abduction of some 250 others.

Applause erupted among the thousands who gathered to watch the poignant scenes on large screens at Hostages Square, the Tel Aviv plaza where families and supporters of hostages have been protesting weekly to demand a ceasefire deal.

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

But scuffles with Israeli security forces and hours of waiting did little to deter the crowds that flooded the streets around 1 a.m., as large white buses carrying 90 Palestinian detainees — all women or teens — exited the gates of Ofer prison, near the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Drivers revved their engines in celebration. Fireworks erupted. Several men climbed on top of the bus and hoisted three Hamas flags. “God is greater!” the crowds shouted.

Many of those released expressed elation tinged with grief for the devastation wrought by the war in Gaza.

A “double feeling” is how the most prominent detainee freed, Khalida Jarrar, 62, described it. Jarrar is a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a secular leftist faction that was involved in attacks against Israel in the 1970s but later scaled back militant activities. Since her arrest in late 2023, she was held under indefinitely renewable administrative detention — a widely criticized practice that Israel uses against Palestinians.

“There’s this double feeling we’re living in, on the one hand, this feeling of freedom, that we thank everyone for, and on the other hand, this pain, of losing so many Palestinian martyrs,” she told The Associated Press.

All of those being released had been detained for what Israel called offenses related to its security, from throwing stones and promoting violence on social media to more serious accusations such as attempted murder.

The next release of hostages and prisoners is due Saturday. In just over two weeks, talks are to begin on the far more challenging second phase of the ceasefire agreement.

‘Joy mixed with pain’

In Gaza, there was palpable relief at the prospect of six weeks without fighting and Israeli bombardment that so far has killed over 46,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which says women and children make up more than half the fatalities but does not distinguish between civilians and fighters.

The skies above the besieged territory were free of Israeli warplanes for the first day since a weeklong ceasefire in November 2023 that freed over 100 hostages, offering Palestinians a chance to take stock of the devastation.

“This ceasefire was a joy mixed with pain,” Rami Nofal, said a displaced man from Gaza City, explaining that his son was killed by Israeli bombardment.

Masked Hamas militants appeared at some celebrations, triumphant as crowds chanted slogans in support of them. The Hamas-run police reemerged from months of hiding.

Some families set off for home on foot, their belongings loaded on donkey carts.

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

“It’s like you see in a Hollywood horror movie,” resident Mohamed Abu Taha said as he inspected the ruins of his family’s home.

Israelis divided over deal

In Israel, the scenes of Hamas gunmen celebrating openly in the streets of Gaza underscored divisions over the agreement.

Asher Pizem, 35, from the city of Sderot, said the deal had merely postponed the next confrontation with Hamas. He also criticized Israel for allowing aid into Gaza, saying it would contribute to the militant group’s revival.

“They will take the time and attack again,” he said, looking out over Gaza’s smoldering ruins from a small hill in southern Israel with other Israelis gathered there.

An immense toll

The toll of the war has been immense, and new details will now emerge.

Already, Israeli forces were pulling back from some areas of Gaza, in line with the ceasefire agreement. Residents of Beit Lahiya and Jabaliya in northern Gaza said they didn’t see Israeli troops anymore. One resident said they saw bodies in the streets that appeared to have been there for weeks.

Some 90% of Gaza's population has been displaced. Rebuilding — if the ceasefire leads to the war's end — will take several years at least. Major questions about Gaza's future are unresolved.

There should be a surge of humanitarian aid, with hundreds of trucks entering Gaza daily, far more than Israel allowed before.

“This is a moment of tremendous hope,” humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said. “Fragile, yet vital.”

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

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