Armed Hamas members drove through the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip with crowds cheering and chanting slogans after a ceasefire took effect on January 19, according to Reuters.
Thousands of Gazans carrying tents, clothes and personal belongings are returning home after more than 15 months of conflict that has displaced much of Gaza’s population, in many cases more than a year. times, according to AFP.
Palestinians return to the center of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on January 19
“I feel like I finally found water to drink after 15 months lost in the desert. I feel alive again,” said Aya, a woman displaced from the northern city of Gaza who sought refuge in Deir Al-Balah for more than a year, shared with Reuters after the conflict stopped.
In Tel Aviv, hundreds of Israelis in the square outside the Israeli Defense Ministry headquarters watched the hostage release on a large screen. The crowd cheered, hugged and cried as three female hostages could be seen getting out of a car in the Gaza Strip surrounded by Hamas members.
One of the Israeli hostages gets out of the car to be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza City, Gaza Strip on January 19.
The above-mentioned hostages got into the car of the International Committee of the Red Cross while many Hamas members chanted the name of the armed wing of Hamas.
Immediately afterward, the Israeli military announced that three hostages, identified by the prime minister’s office as Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari, had arrived in Israeli territory. An Israeli official told Reuters that the Red Cross confirmed they were still healthy.
From left to right, three hostages were released: Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher
In the West Bank, buses are waiting for Palestinian prisoners to be released from Israeli custody. Hamas said the first group released in exchange for hostages included 69 women and 21 teenagers.
The first phase of a ceasefire for the 15-month conflict between Israel and Hamas took effect after a three-hour delay caused by Israeli warplanes and artillery strikes on the Gaza Strip. Israel’s last-minute lightning strike killed 13 people, according to Gaza health officials.
Israel blamed Hamas for being slow to hand over the names of the hostages it would release and insisted the attack targeted “terrorists”. Hamas argued the delay in providing the list was due to technical problems.
The ceasefire calls for a cessation of fighting, the sending of aid to Gaza and the release of 33 of the 98 Israeli and foreign hostages still held there in the initial six-week phase in exchange for hundreds of prisoners. Palestinians are detained in Israeli prisons.
For Hamas, the ceasefire could offer a chance to emerge from the shadows after 15 months of hiding. Hamas security forces wearing blue uniforms were quickly deployed in some areas, according to Reuters.
However, no detailed plan has been put forward for post-conflict management of Gaza. Any return of Hamas to control of Gaza would test Israel’s commitment to the ceasefire. Israel has vowed to resume attacks if Hamas, which has run Gaza since 2007, is not completely dissolved.
Hardline Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir resigned from the cabinet on January 19 over the ceasefire, although his party said it would not try to overthrow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Another hardliner, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, remains in the government but has announced he will resign if the conflict ends without Hamas being completely destroyed.
Mr. Mike Waltz, chosen by US President-elect Donald Trump to be his national security advisor, warned on January 19 that if Hamas abandons the agreement, the US will support Israel “to do what they have to do”. He emphasized: “Hamas will never manage Gaza. That is completely unacceptable.”
