Sounds of celebration replaced explosions in the Gaza Strip on Sunday as a fragile cease-fire took effect after 470 days of war, allowing some hostages to return home to Israel and displaced Palestinians to seek what remains of their homes.
Under the terms of a hard-won deal, fighting between the Israeli army and Hamas militants ceased at 11:15 a.m., raising hopes for a more permanent end to a war that has plunged the Middle East into fear and uncertainty.
The first hostages – three women captured when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023 – were released shortly after, and as the danger eased, reinforced aid shipments began to make their way in the opposite direction, crossing border checkpoints.
Joyful Palestinians honked their cars and played music in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah, where children ran through the streets. Israelis also celebrated as hostages began to return, and distraught families awaited the release of more.
But underlying the relief was the realization that this phase of the ceasefire would only last 42 days and free only some of the hostages, and that major diplomatic obstacles lay ahead if extended. Israel and Hamas reached a deal in part by postponing their most vexed disputes until a nebulous “phase two” that neither side is sure they will reach.
Almost as soon as the bombs stopped falling, masked gunmen and uniformed Hamas police came out of hiding and appeared on the streets of Gaza. The show of force was unmistakable, showing that even after an overwhelming Israeli military campaign aimed at destroying Hamas, the militant group remains the dominant Palestinian force in Gaza.
On Saturday night, as the truce approached, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reminded both foes and allies that the first phase of the deal was temporary and that Israel could still return to fighting if talks on the next phase of the deal broke down. broken truce.
“We reserve the right to return to war, if necessary, with the support of the United States,” Mr. Netanyahu, whose coalition is sharply divided by the ceasefire agreement, he said in a televised address.
Still, regardless of the apprehensions over the coming weeks and months, there were moments of joy on Sunday.
One of the freed hostages, Emily Damari, could be seen smiling and leaning out of the van’s open window as she was transported to Sheba Hospital in Tel Aviv. Ms. Damari was last seen on the loose 15 months ago, when she was abducted from her home in a kibbutz in southern Israel. She was shot in the arm and taken away in her own car, with a militant behind the wheel.
A picture of Ms Damari released by the Israeli army on Sunday shows her still smiling, although she is missing two middle fingers on her left hand. All three hostages were later reunited with their relatives, who cried and hugged them tightly after more than a year of separation, according to footage released by the Israeli government. Their parents, siblings and friends led an international campaign for their freedom.
Under the terms of the deal, Hamas will gradually release 33 hostages, and in exchange Israel must release more than 1,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, including some serving life sentences for brutal attacks on Israelis. Ninety of them – all women and minors – were to be released on Sunday.
Friends of the three hostages freed on Sunday danced, sang and waved Israeli flags in the air as they gathered at the hospital’s helipad. Gal Kubani, 28, a friend of Ms Damari, said she was “overjoyed” at the news of her release and “proud of Emily for surviving this madness.”
In Gaza, the celebration was tempered by sadness. More than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military campaign, according to Gaza health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Large parts of the enclave lie in ruins, and many displaced people have no homes to return to.
Soon after the fighting stopped, waves of displaced Palestinians headed north, eager to see if any parts of their homes remained.
Many people said they were determined to start rebuilding the lives they once knew, despite the massive amount of destruction across the enclave. “The joy of returning home is huge, but it is mixed with sadness,” said Ahed al-Okka, 52, a construction worker from Gaza City.
For others like Suhaila Dawaas, a displaced person from Gaza who said she lost eight relatives in the war, grief has overshadowed any hope for the future. Her home was mostly destroyed, although she hoped to find a few reminders of her family’s life in the ruins.
“I can’t say I’m happy about this truce,” said Ms Dawaas, a 55-year-old mother of eight. “After all, what is left for us? After endless losses, destruction, pain?”
Videos taken by a drone over Gaza show people fanning out across the wasteland. The dense settlements of Gaza have been turned into concrete slabs, the roads turned into dust. With an untold number of bodies still trapped under the rubble, members of the Gaza Civil Emergency Service went to work.
The war began after Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, Israel says, and taking 250 hostages. About 100 hostages are still in Gaza, although about a third are believed to be dead.
Both Israel and Hamas kept some of their bargains. At the end of the first phase of the ceasefire, Hamas will still have about two-thirds of the hostages. And Israel will continue to occupy parts of Gaza and hold key prisoners, including Marwan Barghouti, the militant leader and iconic Palestinian political figure.
On Sunday, United Nations trucks with humanitarian supplies began entering Gaza just 15 minutes after the ceasefire went into effect, according to Jonathan Whittall, head of the UN humanitarian office for the Palestinian territories. They had months of lawlessness and restrictions on humanitarian deliveries reduced aid to leakage.
Two convoys with packages of ready-made food and wheat flour arrived in the enclave on Sunday, one through Kerem Shalom according to Martin Penner, spokesman for the United Nations World Food Programme. The ceasefire agreement calls for 600 trucks a day to bring aid to Gazans, although it is unclear how the supplies will be distributed.
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the mood was anxious as families and friends waited for the first of 90 Palestinian prisoners to be released from Israel’s Ofer prison. Israeli officials said the process would begin Sunday night, but some questioned whether the release would actually happen.
“People are too exhausted and their feelings are mixed with sadness for Gaza,” said Zuhair Yousef, a taxi driver. “So we wait until the last minute.”
The ceasefire has already opened deep fissures within Prime Minister Netanyahu’s ruling coalition.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister, resigned in protest from the government and pulled his Jewish Power party from the coalition on Sunday. The Religious Zionist Party, led by Bezalel Smotrich, has suggested it may do the same unless Mr Netanyahu resumes the war after the initial truce. If it does, Mr. Netanyahu’s government would hold less than half the seats in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, which could eventually force the government to fall and call new elections.
Teams of diplomats representing both President Biden and President-elect Donald J. Trump played a major role in brokering the ceasefire, and both took credit for it on the penultimate day of Mr. Biden in office.
In statements in South Carolina, Mr. Biden defended his staunch support for Israel, despite advice from some who warned him it could draw the US into a wider war. “Abandoning the course I was on would not have led us to the ceasefire we are witnessing today,” he said.
They contributed to the report Adam Rasgon, Nathan Odenheimer, Ephrat Livni, Jonathan Reiss, Gabby Sobelman, Myra Noveck, Vivian Yee, Fatima Abdul Karim and Yan Zhuang.
