West Asia Conflict Highlights | Israel-Hamas truce holding after first hostage-prisoner swap

Three female hostages to be released by Hamas as part of ceasefire deal with Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the ceasefire would not begin until Israel received the names.

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Israeli hardline minister Ben-Gvir quits government over Gaza deal

The Otzma Yehudit party is no longer part of the ruling coalition but has said it will not try to bring down Netanyahu's government.

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8 Palestinians killed in Gaza amid delay in ceasefire implementation

Israeli warplanes and artillery attacked the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday and Palestinian medics said eight people were killed shortly after Israel and Hamas missed a deadline for a ceasefire that could pave the way for halting the Middle East's most devastating conflict in years.

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Israeli PM's office says it received list of hostages to be released on Sunday

Israel received a list of hostages in Gaza to be released on Sunday and Israeli security personnel were checking the "details", the prime minister's office said.

It also said it had begun notifying families of hostages to be released via representatives of the Israeli military. (Reuters)

Gaza ceasefire comes into effect at 0915 GMT on Sunday

Celebrations in Gaza City, Jan 19, 2025.

The Gaza ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hamas took effect at 11:15 am local time (0915 GMT) on Sunday, the Israeli prime minister's office said. (Reuters)

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Three Israeli hostages to be freed after 1400 GMT Sunday, four more in seven days

The Israeli prime minister's office said Sunday that the release of three hostages held by Hamas in Gaza would take place after 1400 GMT on Sunday.

In a statement, it also said four other living female hostages would be freed in seven days. (Reuters)

Displaced Palestinias attempt to return home as Israel-Hamas ceasefire comes into effect

What are the main elements of the Gaza ceasefire deal?

Here are the main elements of a Gaza ceasefire deal that went into effect on Sunday after 15 months of conflict that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and inflamed the Middle East.

Details of the agreement have not yet been publicly announced by the mediators, Israel or Hamas. Officials briefed on the deal provided the following elements:

* A six-week initial ceasefire phase includes the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from central Gaza and the return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza.

* The deal requires 600 truckloads of humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza every day of the ceasefire, 50 of them carrying fuel, with 300 of the trucks allocated to the north, where conditions for civilians are particularly difficult.

* Hamas will release 33 Israeli hostages, including all women (soldiers and civilians), children, and men over 50. Hamas will release female hostages and under 19s first, followed by men over 50. Three female hostages are expected to be released through the Red Cross on Sunday after 1400 GMT, the Israeli Prime Minister's office said.

* Israel will release 30 Palestinian detainees for every civilian hostage and 50 Palestinian detainees for every Israeli female soldier Hamas releases.

* Under the terms of the deal, Hamas will inform the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) where the meeting point will be inside Gaza and the ICRC is expected to begin driving to that location to collect the hostages.

* Israel will release all Palestinian women and children under 19 detained since Oct. 7, 2023 by end of the first phase. The total number of Palestinians released will depend on hostages released, and could be between 990 and 1,650 Palestinian detainees including men, women and children.

* Hamas will release the hostages over a six-week period, with at least three hostages released each week and the remainder of the 33 before the end of the period. All living hostages will be released first, followed by remains of dead hostages.

* The implementation of the agreement will be guaranteed by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

* Negotiations over a second phase of the agreement will begin by the 16th day of phase one and is expected to include the release of all remaining hostages, including Israeli male soldiers, a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli soldiers.

* A third phase is expected to include the return of all remaining dead bodies and the start of Gaza's reconstruction, supervised by Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations

(Reuters)

Celebrations in Palestine as ceasefire deal comes into effect

Thousands of Gazans return home as ceasefire comes into effect

Thousands of displaced Gazans began heading back to their homes on Sunday after a long-awaited ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect on at 0915 GMT, bringing an end to a 15-month-long bloody conflict that left nearly 50,000 people dead, reported news agency AFP.

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Displaced Gazans begin the long march back home as 15-month conflict ends after ceasefire

Israel committed to goals in Gaza including release of hostages and dismantling of Hamas, foreign minister says

Israel is committed to achieving its objectives in the Gaza war, including the return of hostages and dismantling of Hamas’ government and military capabilities, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Sunday.

He was speaking to reporters in Jerusalem shortly after a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, Gaza's dominant Palestinian militant group, came into effect.

Saar added that there would be no future peace, stability and security for both sides if Hamas remained in power in Gaza. (Reuters)

Aid trucks arrive at Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing ahead of Gaza entry

About 200 aid delivery trucks, including 20 carrying fuel, began arriving on Sunday at the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing ahead of entry into the Gaza Strip, two Egyptian sources told Reuters.

A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza took effect on Sunday morning after a nearly three-hour delay, pausing a 15-month-old war that has shaken up the Middle East.

The aid trucks were using the Kerem Shalom entry point pending completion of maintenance at the Rafah border crossing into southern Gaza from Egypt, the sources said. (Reuters)

At least 46,913 Palestinians killed in Israel's Gaza war since Oct. 7, 2023

Israel's military offensive on the Gaza Strip has killed at least 46,913 Palestinians and injured 110,750 since Oct. 7, 2023, the Palestinian enclave's health ministry said in an update on Sunday. (Reuters)

Hamas says Israel will submit list of 90 Palestinian prisoners to be freed on Sunday

Hamas said Israel is set to hand over a list with the names of 90 Palestinian prisoners to be released on Sunday in exchange for three Israeli female hostages held by the militant group in Gaza.

In a statement, Hamas said the prisoners, to be released on the first day of the ceasefire in Gaza's 15-month-old war, included women and children. (Reuters)

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Latest visuals from the Israel-Gaza border

Who are the Israeli hostages being released by Hamas on Sunday?

Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Sunday it would release three Israeli female hostages as part of the first phase of its ceasefire deal with Israel.

Israel has not confirmed the names of the three women and may not do so until they are handed over after 4 pm (1400 GMT), but the Hostages and Missing Families Forum did name them.

Romi Gonen

Gonen, a dancer, was 23 when Hamas gunmen abducted her from the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023. Gonen spent hours hiding from the gunmen with several friends before being shot in the hand. She was on the phone with her family when they heard her say "I am going to die, today". The last thing they heard the attackers saying, in Arabic, was "she's alive, let's take her". Her phone was later traced to a location in the Gaza Strip.

Doron Steinbrecher

Steinbrecher was a 30-year-old veterinary nurse who was taken to Gaza from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, one of the communities worst hit in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel. A few hours after the attack began she phoned her parents to say she was scared and that the gunmen had arrived at her building. She then sent a voice message to her friends saying "They've arrived, they have me".

Emily Damari

Damari, 28, is a British-Israeli who was abducted from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. She grew up in London and is a fan of the Tottenham Hotspur soccer team. According to her mother, she was shot in the hand, injured by shrapnel in her leg, blindfolded, bundled into the back of her own car, and driven to Gaza.

(Reuters)

Gaza Strip in ruins as 15-month-long war comes to an end

Gazans cheer as ceasefire between Israel and Hamas takes hold

Thousands of Palestinians burst into the streets across Gaza as a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began on Sunday, some in celebration, others to visit the graves of relatives, while many rushed back to see what remained of their homes.

"I feel like at last I found some water to drink after getting lost in the desert for 15 months. I feel alive again," Aya, a displaced woman from Gaza City, who has been sheltering in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip for over a year, told Reuters via a chat app.

In the north of the territory, where some of the most intense Israeli airstrikes and battles with the militants took place, hundreds of people picked their way through a devastated landscape of rubble and twisted metal.

Armed Hamas fighters drove through the southern city of Khan Younis, with crowds cheering and chanting, despite an almost three-hour delay in the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, which follows 15 months of devastating conflict.

Hamas policemen, dressed in blue police uniform, deployed in some areas after months of trying to keep out of sight to avoid Israeli airstrikes.

People who had gathered to cheer the fighters chanted "Greetings to Al-Qassam Brigades" - the armed wing of Hamas.

"All the resistance factions are staying in spite of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu," one fighter told Reuters, referring to the armed wing.

"This is a ceasefire, a full and comprehensive one God willing, and there will be no return to war in spite of him."

The ceasefire deal took effect after a nearly three-hour delay, pausing a war that has brought seismic political change to the Middle East and giving hope to Gaza's 2.3 million people, many of whom have been displaced several times.

The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said Israeli military strikes killed at least 13 people in attacks across the enclave during the delay. No more attacks were reported after it took effect at 11.15 am (0915 GMT).

"We are now waiting for the day when we head back to our home in Gaza City," Aya said. "Damaged or not, it doesn't matter, the nightmare of death and starvation is over."

(Reuters)

Israel's Finance Minister threatens to quit if Gaza war ends

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened on Sunday to quit the coalition government if Israel stops the war against Hamas in Gaza.

Smotrich heads the nationalist Religious Zionism party that is part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

Earlier, hardline National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and other members from his nationalist-religious party resigned in protest at the cabinet's approval of the ceasefire agreement that came into effect on Sunday morning. (Reuters)

Red Cross team on the way to collect Israeli hostages from Hamas

A team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza is on its way to collect Israeli hostages from Hamas, an official involved in the operation said on Sunday. (Reuters)

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'Important' that Gaza ceasefire finally implemented and for hostages to be released, says Germany's Scholz

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Sunday it was important that the Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas had finally been implemented and that remaining hostages are released.

Speaking on the sidelines of a townhall meeting in the city of Schwalbach, Scholz said the release of hostages held by Hamas "should be used for a peaceful development, a perspective in which a Palestinian state can coexist peacefully with Israel." (Reuters)

Latest visuals from Gaza as Palestinians make their way home

Hamas will never govern Gaza, says Trump advisor

President-elect Donald Trump's incoming national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said on Sunday that if Hamas reneges on the Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal, the United States will support Israel "in doing what it has to do."

He added in an interview with CBS' 'Face the Nation', "Hamas will never govern Gaza. That is completely unacceptable." (Reuters)

Hamas attributes delay in announcing list of Palestinian prisoners to 'errors' in some names

The prisoners office of Hamas attributed a delay in announcing a list of the Palestinian prisoners to be freed on Sunday under the Gaza ceasefire deal with Israel to "errors" in some names, adding that this would be addressed. (Reuters)

Hamas official says three Israeli women hostages handed over to Red Cross in Gaza

A senior Hamas official told AFP that the Palestinian militant group had handed over three Israeli women hostages to the Red Cross on Sunday, as agreed with Israel in a ceasefire deal.

"The three women hostages were officially handed over to the Red Cross at Al-Saraya Square in the Al-Rimal neighbourhood in western Gaza City," the official said. "This occurred after a member of the Red Cross team met with them and ensured their well-being."

Cheers and weeping as Israelis watch Gaza hostages return

Hundreds of Israelis gathered in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, some cheering and some in tears, as a giant television screen broadcast the first glimpse of the first three hostages to be released under the Gaza ceasefire deal.

They watched as the three women - Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari - got out of a car in Gaza City and were handed over to Red Cross officials amid a surging crowd that was held back by Hamas gunmen.

The Israeli military shared video showing their families gathered in what appeared to be a military facility crying out in emotion as they watched footage of the handover to Israeli forces in Gaza before they were brought back into Israel.

"Their return today represents a beacon of light in the darkness, a moment of hope and triumph of the human spirit," the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group that represents some hostage families said.

The release of the three women, the first of 33 hostages due to be freed from Gaza under phase one of the deal, is in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. (Reuters)

90 Palestinian prisoners released by Israel

Israeli prison service said early on Monday that 90 Palestinian prisoners have been released as part of the hostages for prisoners swap deal between Israel and Hamas. (Reuters)

Visuals from West Bank as freed Palestinian prisoners rejoice

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Gaza residents and Israelis dare to hope as ceasefire takes hold

The sounds of celebration replaced those of explosions in the Gaza Strip on Sunday as a fragile ceasefire came into effect after 470 days of war, allowing some hostages to return home to Israel, Palestinians imprisoned in Israel to be released, and displaced Palestinians to search for what was left of their homes in Gaza.

Under the terms of the laboriously reached deal, fighting between the Israeli military and Hamas militants stopped at 11:15 am, raising hopes for a more lasting end to a war that has plunged the Middle East into fear and uncertainty.

The first hostages — three women seized when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 — were released shortly afterward. Early Monday, the Israeli prison service said it had released 90 Palestinian prisoners being held in Israel, where they were met by excited family members.

At the same time, stepped-up aid deliveries — more than 630 trucks in a single day — made their way into Gaza.

Joyous Palestinians honked car horns and blasted music in the central Gaza city of Deir al Balah, where children ran around in the streets. Israelis celebrated, too, as the hostages began returning, with anxious families anticipating the release of still more.

But underlying the relief was the knowledge that this phase of the ceasefire is to last just 42 days and free only some of the hostages, and that big diplomatic hurdles lie ahead if it is to be extended. Israel and Hamas reached the deal in part by putting off their most intractable disputes until a nebulous “second phase” that neither side is sure it will reach. (NYT)

China welcomes Israel-Hamas ceasfire

Hours after the Israel-Hamas ceasefire came into effect on Sunday, China on Monday hailed the long-awaited truce that aims to end the 15-month-long war in Gaza.

Beijing said it "welcomes the Gaza ceasefire agreement coming into effect," adding that it hopes "the agreement will be fully and continuously implemented," news agency AFP reported, citing a foreign ministry spokesperson.

France to keep fighting for release of French-Israeli hostages

France will keep fighting to obtain the release of the two French-Israeli nationals held by Hamas, foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot told BFM TV on Monday.

"We will continue to fight until the last hour for their release," Barrot told BFM TV, adding France had "no news on their health status nor on the terms of their detention".

Hamas released three Israeli hostages and Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners on Sunday, on the first day of a ceasefire suspending a 15-month-old war that has devastated the Gaza Strip and inflamed the Middle East.

French-Israeli nationals Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi are expected to be on the list of 33 hostages to be released in the first phase of the draft Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal. (Reuters)

Yemen's Houthis say they'll limit their attacks in Red Sea corridor

Yemen's Houthi rebels have signalled they will limit their attacks in the Red Sea corridor to only Israeli-affiliated ships as a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip took hold.

The Houthis made the announcement in an email sent to shippers and others on Sunday. The Houthis separately planned a military statement on Monday, likely about the decision.

-AP

Israel-Hamas truce holding after first hostage-prisoner swap

-AFP

Hamas not being eliminated ‘very embarrassing for Netanyahu’, media focusing on his handling of the war

Mohamad Elmasry, a media studies professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, says Israeli media are now focusing on Netanyahu’s handling of the war on Gaza.

“They’re calling this a spectacular failure,” he told Al Jazeera. “Back in April, Netanyahu said, ‘We are one step away from eliminating Hamas.’ Then in June he doubled down on that and said, ‘We’re almost there. We almost eliminated Hamas.’

“And now he has to watch, on all the TV screens, Hamas fighters dressed in their fatigues escorting Israeli captives to their vehicles.'

-Al Jazeera

Hamas policemen deploy in streets to maintain order, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City

Credit: Reuters Photos

Released Israeli hostage says she 'returned to life'

One of the Israeli hostages freed on the first day of the Gaza ceasefire said Monday in her first comments since being released that she has “returned to life”

In an Instagram story, which was shared by Israeli media, Damari thanked her family and the large protest movement that coalesced to advocate for the release of the hostages. “Thank you thank you thank you I'm the happiest in the world,” she said.

-AP

47,035 Palestinians killed in Israel's offensive since October 7, 2023: Gaza Health Ministry

At least 47,035 Palestinians have been killed and 111,091 injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since October 7, 2023, the Gaza health ministry said on Monday.

The ministry added that in the past 24 hours, 60 people were killed and another 62 bodies were recovered.

-Reuters

Palestinian rescue workers begin search for people under rubble on day two of ceasefire

Palestinian Emergency Services said on Monday that a search is underway for thousands of Palestinians believed buried under rubble, as Gaza's residents expressed shock at the devastation on the second day of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

"We are searching for 10,000 martyrs whose bodies remain under the rubble," said Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson of the Palestinian Civil Emergency Services.

At least 2,840 bodies were melted and there were no traces of them, he said.

Displaced Gazan Mohamed Gomaa lost his brother and nephew in the war.

"It was a big shock, and the amount (of people) feeling shocked is countless because of what happened to their homes - it's destruction, total destruction. It's not like an earthquake or a flood, no no, what happened is a war of extermination," he said.

-Reuters