Three hostages now in Israeli territory, IDF says
Israel’s military says the three hostages are now in Israeli territory.
“A short while ago, accompanied by IDF and ISA forces, the released hostages crossed the border into Israeli territory,” the IDF said.
“The released hostages are currently on their way to an initial reception point in southern Israel, where they will undergo an initial medical assessment.”
Key events
UN Women has released a statement in response to the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, calling it news that “brings relief for the 1 million women and children” in Gaza who have been subjected to Israeli attacks over the last 15 months.
The UN organization said:
UN Women welcomes the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, including the hostage release deal, which went into effect today.
We join the Secretary-General in expressing hope that all parties will honor their commitments to ensure this agreement paves the way for a lasting peace for women and girls in Palestine, Israel, and the region. The news of the ceasefire brings relief for the 1 million women and girls who have lived under continued bombardment, without safety in Gaza for the last 470 days. The news of the initial release of hostages brings immense relief to them and their families. The ceasefire agreement marks a crucial step towards stability and peace.
Urgent humanitarian relief is needed throughout Gaza to alleviate the immense suffering. The conflict has caused death and destruction on an unprecedented scale for everyone in Gaza, with women and girls suffering from specific gendered vulnerabilities throughout it. Women have been at the forefront of humanitarian responses and community action, serving as primary caregivers, heads of households, and leaders in their communities.”
Three hostages now in Israeli territory, IDF says
Israel’s military says the three hostages are now in Israeli territory.
“A short while ago, accompanied by IDF and ISA forces, the released hostages crossed the border into Israeli territory,” the IDF said.
“The released hostages are currently on their way to an initial reception point in southern Israel, where they will undergo an initial medical assessment.”
Joe Biden said that he was pleased to have his and Donald Trump’s teams “speak as one voice in the final days” of the ceasefire deal finalization.
Biden said the dialogue was “both necessary and effective and unprecedented.”
He added that success in the region is going to “require persistence and continuing support for our friends in the region, and the belief in diplomacy backed by deterrence.”
Joe Biden is currently delivering a statement on the ceasefire deal.
“I’ve worked in foreign policy for decades, and this is one of the toughest negotiations I’ve been part of,” Biden said.
He went on to add: “Now the region has been fundamentally transformed. Hamas’s longtime leader, [Yahya] Sinwar is dead. Hamas sponsors in the Middle East have been badly weakened by Israel, backed by the United States. Hezbollah, one of Hamas’ biggest backers, was significantly weakened on the battlefield as the leadership was destroyed…”
Three hostages being escorted by IDF back to Israel
Israeli forces have received the three female hostages who are now being escorted back to Israel under protection from security forces and an “elite” unit from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). They are the first returned in this first phase of the ceasefire deal, which should last for 42 days. Hamas said in a statement earlier that Doron Steinbrecher, 31, Emily Damari, 28, and Romi Gonen, 24 would be the first hostages to be returned as part of the deal.
In a statement on X, the IDF wrote:
The three returnees are now being escorted by an elite IDF unit and Shin Bet security force on their way back to Israel, where they will undergo an initial medical evaluation.
IDF commanders and soldiers salute and embrace the returnees on their way to Israel.
The first stage of the ceasefire agreement should see a total of 33 hostages returning from Gaza and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees released.
We are expecting 90 Palestinian prisoners to be released from Israeli prisons in return for the three Israeli hostages later today. It is not clear exactly what time they will be released.
Here are some images coming through the newswires from the hostage release:
Release of Israeli hostages happening now – officials
The release of the three female Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas is happening now, it has been confirmed by officials and the Israeli military.
“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,” a senior Hamas official told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency. “This occurred after a member of the Red Cross team met with them and ensured their well-being,” the official added. The Red Cross are expected to hand the three women to the Israeli military to be taken out of the Gaza Strip and then reunited with their families.
In the Israeli occupied West Bank, buses were awaiting the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli detention. Hamas said the first group to be freed in exchange for the hostages includes 69 women and 21 teenage boys.
The three hostages were named earlier as: Emily Damari, 28, Romi Gonen, 24, and Doren Steinbrecher, 31, who were all abducted on 7 October 2023 during Hamas’s attack on southern Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage. Around 100 hostages still remain in Gaza, after the rest were released or their bodies recovered.
Handover of Israeli hostages to ICRC underway – Hamas official
A handover of the three female Israeli hostages (named earlier as Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari) to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is underway, a Hamas official has just told Reuters. We have not verified this information yet.
The Red Cross says that the hostages were transferred to them and are en route toward Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israel Securities Authority (ISA) forces in the Gaza Strip.
President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming national security adviser, Mike Waltz, has been asked about the ceasefire negotiation on CBS’ Face the Nation programme.
He said Hamas, the Palestinian militant group which has controlled Gaza for almost two decades, will “never govern Gaza (again)”, describing such a situation as “unacceptable”.
“If Hamas reneges on this deal and Hamas backs out, moves the goalpost, what have you, we will support Israel in doing what it has to do,” he added.
The Israeli military, claiming it was routing out terrorists, launched an offensive in the southern city of Rafah in May last year, despite international warnings of the devastating humanitarian impact it would have. A million people who sought shelter in Rafah, after fleeing fighting or after their homes were destroyed, turned the small city of 300,000 into a sprawling, overcrowded encampment.
Over 150,000 Palestinians fled Israeli bombardments after receiving orders from the IDF to do so. Some of these people have began returning to the city – even before the ceasefire came into effect this morning:
As we have been reporting throughout the afternoon, thousands of displaced Palestinians are on their way home to the areas they were forced to flee in the Gaza Strip due to Israeli airstrikes and repeated forced evacuation orders during the 15 month war. Here is an extract from a piece, centred on Palestinian reaction to the ceasefire announcement, written by my colleagues Malak A Tantesh and Jason Burke:
“I feel very beautiful. We hope that God will complete this joy and that we return to our homes and lands safely. This is the most beautiful joy in the world, thank God,” said Moaz Qirqiz, 46.
“The most beautiful moment will be when we meet the loved ones in north Gaza and when we stand on the soil of our land and our homes even if they were destroyed. These minutes, I feel that I am the happiest person in the world, even though I lost my closest brother and lost my home and all the homes of my family.” Qirqiz has been living with his family near the central town of Deir al-Balah after being displaced early in the conflict from his home in northern Gaza.
Like many others, Qirqiz, who ran an electrical appliance store in the northern town of Jabaliya, where there have been intensive recent bombardments and clashes, said he was worried the ceasefire would break down.
“I am afraid that things will turn upside down and that we will return to what we were like during the war and return to the suffering of loss and destruction once again,” he said.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer has said that “both Trump and Biden have given full backing to Israel’s right to return to the fighting if it reaches the conclusion that the second stage of negotiations is ineffectual.”
Mencer said, however, that Israel wants “all stages” of the phased ceasefire deal to come into effect, according to an update from the Associated Press. Negotiations on the ceasefire’s second phase are to start just over two weeks into the first phase that has now started.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz in a separate statement reiterated that Israel won’t stop the war until everyone returns home. He added that “we will take care to maintain the buffer zones and respond forcefully to any violation and threat.” Israeli forces are withdrawing to buffer zones inside Gaza in the first phase.
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has said it is important the Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas has finally been implemented and that the remaining hostages are released.
Speaking on the sidelines of a 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.”
Team on way to collect Israeli hostages from Hamas – reports
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 has told Reuters.
A spokesperson for the family of Emily Damari, a British-Israeli hostage due to be released by Hamas today, has spoken of the agony they have suffered since 7 October.
“These final few hours have been the most agonising that you can imagine, after nearly 500 days of unending torment for Mandy and all the other families,” Emily Cohen, the spokesperson, said.
“Obviously this is amazing news for Mandy and Emily’s entire family, but she will only believe it when she actually gets to see Emily alive and give her that hug she’s been dreaming of. Being so close to that moment makes the pain even more intense.
“As a mother, seeing how Mandy has campaigned tirelessly for Emily for the past 471 days has been utterly inspiring.
“I cannot begin to explain how brave and fearless she has been fighting for her daughter, pressuring world leaders and international organisations relentlessly and constantly.
“Given how unbearable the last few hours have been and the rollercoaster of emotions, please respect Mandy’s privacy at this very critical time.
“I know she wants everyone to know how deeply grateful she is to the British public, MPs, football supporters and strangers from around the world, who have been praying and campaigning for Emily’s release.”
World Food Programme aid trucks cross into Gaza
The World Food Programme says its aid trucks have begun crossing into Gaza via the Zikim and Kerem Shalom crossings. The agency says its trucks are carrying wheat flour and ready-to-eat food parcels.
In a statement, the WFP says it “aims to deliver food daily along humanitarian corridors that include Egypt, Jordan and Israel crossing points. This ceasefire is critical for the humanitarian response. Safety, and access must be ensured.”
The WFO, a UN humanitarian organisation, has called for all border crossings to open in order for it to safely move food into Gaza. It has called for security teams for its members and convoys. “We need more humanitarian staff allowed into Gaza,” it says. “And we need urgent funding to reach everyone in need, quickly.”
