The ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas began on Sunday after a short delay.
The armistice was delayed by three hours, due to what Hamas claimed were technical reasons. Israel carried out airstrikes over the period, with Palestinian Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal claiming that 19 Gazans were killed over this period. At around 10:30 a.m. local time, Hamas released the names of the three Israeli hostages it planned to release later on Sunday, fulfilling the final requirement and putting the ceasefire into effect.
INAUGURATION DAY 2025: EVERYTHING TO KNOW AHEAD OF TRUMP TAKING OFFICE
Romi Gonen, 24; Emily Damari, 28; and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were named as the three Israeli hostages to be released first. They were handed over to the Red Cross.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners, mostly women and minors, are being gathered by Israel’s Prison Service, which said it had received the list of prisoners and would transfer them to the Ofer detention center, after which they would be handed over to the Red Cross, the New York Times reported.
The Egyptian government announced that 202 aid trucks had crossed the border into Gaza after the ceasefire took effect. The drivers honked their horns in celebration.
“I can’t describe my feelings of happiness today,” Zein El Abdeen, a truck driver, told the outlet while in tears. “I’m so happy to get to deliver aid for Gaza.”
Videos showed a massive column of Israeli tanks and armored vehicles withdrawing from Gaza the night before the ceasefire took effect.
WHAT TRUMP HAS PROMISED TO DO ON DAY 1 IN THE OVAL OFFICE
Hamas held a parade after the ceasefire, with cheering crowds greeting masked and armed militants riding on pickup trucks.
Gazan civilians took to the streets to celebrate the ceasefire, with many expressing hope that it signaled an end to the war altogether.
“I feel like at last I found some water to drink after getting lost in the desert for 15 months. I feel alive again,” Aya, a woman from northern Gaza City who had taken shelter in central Gaza for over a year, told Al Jazeera.
ABORTION FOES SEE HOPE IF THEY CAN GET GOP GOVERNORS TO SPEND POLITICAL CAPITAL
“We are now waiting for the day we head back to our home in Gaza City. Damaged or not, it doesn’t matter, the nightmare of death and starvation is over,” she added.
As previously threatened, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir announced his resignation over the hostage deal, removing the Jewish Power Party from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government coalition. He denounced the ceasefire and hostage deal as a “surrender-to-terror deal, which crosses all ideological red lines.” The move is not expected to collapse the government.
The ceasefire deal will pause fighting for six weeks and open negotiations to end the war altogether. Over those six weeks, 33 hostages will be exchanged for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Displaced Palestinians will be able to return to what’s left of their homes, and humanitarian aid will flow freely.
Israel estimated that 30 of nearly 100 remaining hostages are dead, but U.S. and Israeli officials privately believe the true number to be much higher, the Wall Street Journal reported. Of the 33 hostages set to be released, some are expected to be dead.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The 470-day war is the deadliest in Israel’s history. While casualty counts are controversial, the Hamas-controlled Gazan Health Ministry, overseen by Hamas, reports that 46,000 Palestinians have been killed since Oct. 7, most of them women and children, though its figures don’t distinguish between civilians and fighters. It says another 110,000 have been wounded, while nearly the entire population has been displaced.
Over 400 Israel Defense Force soldiers have been killed in operations in Gaza. Roughly 1,200 Israelis were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack that ignited the war.
