A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas goes into effect as families await the release of the hostages

The long-awaited ceasefire between Israel and Hamas officially started after a last-minute delay of almost three hours. The fighting continued past the originally scheduled 8:30 a.m. local deadline (1:30 a.m. Eastern) as Israel’s military said Hamas had not named the first three hostages to be freed, under the terms of the deal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office later confirmed that a list of names had been submitted and that the ceasefire would take effect at 11:15 a.m. local time (4:15 a.m. Eastern). Now the families in Israel are waiting for the release of the hostages held by Hamas for more than 15 months.

The exchange is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. ET, 4 p.m. local time on Sunday.

Netanyahu’s office did not confirm which names were on the list, but the Forum for Hostages and Missing Families, which represents the families of the hostages, confirmed that 24-year-old Romi Gonen, 31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher and 28-year-old Emily Damari should be released. later on Sunday.

“We await their safe return to Israel to be reunited with their families after 471 days in Hamas captivity,” the forum said in a statement.

In Gaza, fighter jets and drones reportedly disappeared from the skies when the deal came into effect, and aid trucks began entering Gaza via the Karem Shalom crossing.

The first phase of the ceasefire calls for Hamas to release 33 hostages over a six-week period. They include women, children and hostages over the age of 50, according to a draft reviewed by CBS News.

The plan says that the three live hostages will be returned on day 1. Four hostages will be released on the 7th, and the remaining 26 over the next five weeks.

Pause — the second in the 15-month war — was achieved through joint pressure from President-elect Donald Trump and the outgoing administration of President Biden.

On Wednesday, Mr. Biden and the Qatari prime minister separately announced the agreement after a week of intensive negotiations with the mediation of Qatar, the US and Egypt.

ua a rare encounter during the Jewish Sabbath, the full Israeli cabinet voted to approve the agreement.

The approval sparked a flurry of activity and a new wave of emotion as relatives wondered whether the hostages would be returned alive or dead.

How the hostage release will work

According to the agreed agreement, the truce will take place in three phases.

The first phase of the truce will last 42 days, and negotiations on the far more difficult second phase should begin in a little more than two weeks.

After six weeks of the first phase, Israel’s security cabinet will decide how to proceed.

In total, Hamas would release 33 hostages during the first phase. Hamas would begin releasing the hostages on the first day, initially returning three to Israel, according to a draft seen by CBS News. On the seventh day, Hamas will release the four hostages. Thereafter, Hamas would release three hostages every seven days, starting with the living and then returning the bodies of those who died.

A senior IDF official said Saturday that Hamas would initially hand the hostages over to the Red Cross, then take them to special IDF reception points for initial health checks before being transferred to hospitals inside Israel to be reunited with their families.

During each exchange, Israel will release the Palestinian prisoners once the hostages have arrived safely.

Mr. Biden said on Wednesday that Americans would be among the hostages to be freed in the first phase of the deal, but he did not specify the names or how soon they would be freed.

In the first phase, Israel will release at least 1,700 Palestinian prisoners, including 1,167 Gazans who were not involved in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that sparked the war. All women and children under the age of 19 from Israel-held Gaza will be freed during this phase.

The rest of the hostages in Gaza, including male Israeli soldiers, will be released in a second phase that will be negotiated during the first. Hamas said it would not release the remaining prisoners without a permanent ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal.

When the fight ends

During the first phase of the ceasefire, Israeli troops are supposed to withdraw to a buffer zone about half a mile wide inside Gaza along its border with Israel.

In a post on X, Qatar’s foreign minister advised Palestinians to be cautious when the ceasefire goes into effect and to wait for instructions from officials.

The Israeli military later said Palestinians would not be able to cross the Netzarim Corridor that runs through central Gaza for the first seven days of the ceasefire, and warned Palestinians not to approach Israeli forces.

Despite the warnings and uncertainty, anticipation was high.

“The first thing I will do is go and check my house,” Mohamed Mahdi, a father of two who was displaced from the Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City, told The Associated Press. He also looked forward to seeing family in southern Gaza, but “is still worried that one of us might be killed before we can meet.”

An attack led by Hamas on October 7, 2023 killed approximately 1,200 people in Israel and captured around 250. Almost 100 hostages remained in Gaza.

Israel responded with an offensive that killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and militants but says women and children make up more than half of the dead.