Bombay Durpun - Israeli hostages, Palestinian detainees freed on first Gaza truce exchange

The three hostages released Sunday, all women, were reunited with their families and taken to hospital in central Israel where a doctor said they were in stable condition.

Hours later in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian prisoners released by Israel in exchange left Ofer prison on buses at around 1:00 am (2300 GMT Sunday), with jubilant crowds celebrating their arrival in the nearby town of Beitunia.

As the ceasefire took effect on Sunday morning, thousands of displaced, war-weary Palestinians set off across the devastated Gaza Strip to return home.

In the northern area of Jabalia, hundreds streamed down a sandy path, heading to an apocalyptic landscape piled with rubble and destroyed buildings.

"We are finally in our home. There is no home left, just rubble, but it's our home," said Rana Mohsen, 43, back in Jabalia.

The initial 42-day truce was brokered by Qatari, US and Egyptian mediators.

It is meant to enable a surge of sorely needed humanitarian aid into Gaza, as more Israeli hostages are released in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli custody, Israeli forces leave some areas and the parties negotiate the terms of a permanent ceasefire.

- Reunited -

The three Israeli ex-hostages, Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher, were taken back to Israel by security forces after Hamas fighters handed them over to the Red Cross in a bustling square in Gaza City, surrounded by a sea of people, including gunmen.

"After 471 days Emily is finally home," said her mother Mandy Damari, but "for too many other families the impossible wait continues".

Steinbrecher's family said in a statement that "our heroic Dodo, who survived 471 days in Hamas captivity, begins her rehabilitation journey today".

In central Tel Aviv, there was elation among the crowd who had waited for hours for the news of their release.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group hailed their return as "a beacon of light", while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they had emerged "from darkness".

During this initial truce, 33 Israeli hostages, 31 of whom were taken by militants during Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack, are due to be returned from Gaza in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians.

Of those, more than 230 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences for deadly attacks against Israelis are slated for deportation, according to a list made public by the Israeli authorities. Two Hamas officials said the prisoners would be deported mainly to Qatar or Turkey.

The Israel Prison Service confirmed the release of 90 prisoners early Monday.

In Beitunia, near Ofer prison, AFP journalists saw crowds cheering and chanting as buses carrying the freed inmates arrived, with some climbing atop the lead bus and unfurling a Hamas flag.

The next hostage-prisoner swap would take place on Saturday, a senior Hamas official told AFP.

- 'Nothing left' -

Minutes after the truce began, the United Nations said the first trucks carrying desperately needed humanitarian aid had entered the Palestinian territory.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the truce, saying "it is imperative that this ceasefire removes the significant security and political obstacles to delivering aid".

The truce is intended to pave the way for a permanent end to the war, but a second phase has yet to be finalised.

It came into effect nearly three hours later than scheduled, and during the delay, Gaza rescuers said Israeli bombardment killed 19 people.

Thousands of Palestinians carrying tents, clothes and their personal belongings were seen going home on Sunday, after the war that displaced the vast majority of Gazans, in many cases more than once.

Returning Jabalia resident Walid Abu Jiab said he found "massive, unprecedented destruction", with "nothing left" in Gaza's war-battered north, which has seen intense violence over the past months.

In Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza, displaced woman Umm Hasan al-Buzom, 70, said she would even "crawl my way back home" if needed.

"But we can't return for fear that the (Israeli) occupation forces might shoot at us."

Aid workers say northern Gaza was particularly hard hit, and lacked all essentials including food, shelter and water.

The World Health Organization said it was ready to pour aid into Gaza but that it would need "systematic access" across the territory to do so.

The agency's chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, later said on X that "restoring the health system in Gaza will be a complex and challenging task, given the scale of destruction".

- 'Commitment' -

Another UN agency, the World Food Programme, said it was moving full throttle to get food to as many Gazans as possible.

"We're trying to reach a million people within the shortest possible time," the WFP's deputy executive director, Carl Skau, told AFP.

Before the war, Gaza's population stood at 2.4 million people.

Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said its adherence to the truce would be "contingent on the enemy's commitment".

The war's only previous truce, for one week in November 2023, also saw the release of hostages held by militants in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas's October 7 attack, the deadliest in Israel's history, resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Of the 251 people taken hostage, 91 are still in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

The truce took effect on the eve of Donald Trump's inauguration for a second term as US president.

Trump, who claimed credit for the ceasefire deal, said on US television network NBC that he had told Netanyahu the war "has to end".

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G.Vaidya--BD