Hamas releases first three Israeli prisoners as Gaza ceasefire takes effect | News about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
The first phase of the agreement should last 42 days and allow the release of more prisoners.
Israeli authorities have confirmed that Hamas has surrendered the first three prisoners when the ceasefire agreement for the war-torn Gaza Strip came into force.
The Israeli military and Shin Bet internal security agency announced in a joint statement Sunday night that 24-year-old Romi Gonen, 28-year-old Emily Damari and 31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher were handed over to the Red Cross.
Red Cross vehicles took off from Gaza City in the besieged northern part of the enclave after Hamas brought the captives to al-Saraya Square as crowds gathered.
The ceasefire deal is to be implemented in three phases and includes sending many more humanitarian aid trucks to Gaza to ease the disaster in the enclave. The first phase will last 42 days as Israeli forces withdraw from parts of Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted he would continue to fight as some far-right lawmakers in his government, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, resigned in protest.
Thousands of Palestinians celebrated the long-awaited ceasefire it could improve conditions in Gaza, after more than 15 months of deadly Israeli attacks that have killed more than 46,000 Palestinians and left thousands missing.
Reporting from al-Saraya Square, Al Jazeera journalist Ibrahim Khalili described scenes of jubilation among the crowd.
“They are overjoyed,” he said. “Everywhere is celebrating after 15 months of war that destroyed everything. This is a historic moment.”
It is expected that the prisoners will be immediately taken by Israeli forces for identification, and then transferred by helicopter to a hospital in the central part of Israel. They will remain there for at least four days for psychological and medical evaluations after being reunited with their families.
Israel’s prison services, as well as Israeli forces, have been reporting this week on how they are preparing to release the prisoners.
About 250 people were captured during a Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. About 100 prisoners still remain in Gaza after others were released in late 2023 or their bodies recovered, although it remains unclear exactly how many are alive.
Al Jazeera has obtained a list of 90 Palestinian prisoners who will be released in exchange for three Israeli prisoners.
All are from the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, and the list consists mainly of women and a few children.
The name of Khalida Jarrar, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the occupied West Bank, is also on the list. Others on the list include at least 12 young Palestinians, some of whom are under 19 and minors.
According to Al Jazeera reporter Nidi Ibrahim, many children and minors have been arrested on charges related to throwing rocks at Israeli forces.
“We’re talking about lenient sentences,” she said. “The list of prisoners, hundreds of names that have been released, are mostly serving administrative detention, which is a tactic used by Israeli policy to keep people in prison indefinitely without charge. These administrative detentions are renewed again and again.”
Hours before the cease-fire took effect, Israel announced that it had claimed the body of Oron Shaul, a soldier killed in the 2014 Israel-Hamas war and whose remains have been kept since then.
