The three Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza for 15 months have arrived in Israel as a long-awaited ceasefire in the Gaza Strip took effect on Sunday.
They have been confirmed as 31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher, dual British-Israeli Emily Damari, 28, and 24-year-old Romi Gonen, according to a BBC news report.
The first three Israeli hostages released from Gaza have been handed over to Israeli forces there in the first test of a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the Associated Press reported.
The ceasefire began at 11:15 a.m. local time (0915 GMT).
Families and friends of some of the Palestinians prisoners set to be released from Israel in exchange for hostages in Gaza gathered in Ramallah as cars honked and people waved the Palestinian flag.
About 90 Palestinian prisoners from the West Bank and Jerusalem are expected to be released Sunday after Hamas freed the three Israeli hostages. The Palestinians include 69 women. Hamas has said that, for every Israeli, 30 Palestinians will be released, according to the ceasefire agreement.
The long-awaited ceasefire in Gaza came into force after a last-minute delay, with displaced Palestinians beginning to return to the cities they fled. In the hours the ceasefire was delayed, Israel continued hitting Gaza, killing 19 more people, according to the Hamas-run civil defense agency.
Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 back to Gaza as hostages. The attack triggered a massive Israeli offensive on Gaza, killing more than 46,900 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. (With inputs from BBC and AP)
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