Israeli hostages, Palestinian detainees freed on first Gaza truce exchange

3 weeks ago 10

JERUSALEM: Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners connected Monday aft Hamas handed implicit 3 Israeli hostages, completing the archetypal speech nether a long-awaited truce aimed astatine ending much than 15 months of warfare successful Gaza.

The 3 hostages released Sunday, each women, were reunited with their families and taken to infirmary successful cardinal Israel wherever a doc said they were successful unchangeable condition.

Hours aboriginal successful the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian prisoners released by Israel successful speech near Ofer situation connected buses astatine astir 1:00 americium (2300 GMT Sunday), with jubilant crowds celebrating their accomplishment successful the adjacent municipality of Beitunia.

As the ceasefire took effect connected Sunday morning, thousands of displaced, war-weary Palestinians acceptable disconnected crossed the devastated Gaza Strip to instrumentality home.

In the bluish country of Jabalia, hundreds streamed down a sandy path, heading to an apocalyptic scenery piled with rubble and destroyed buildings.

“We are yet successful our home. There is nary location left, conscionable rubble, but it’s our home,“ said Rana Mohsen, 43, backmost successful Jabalia.

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

It is meant to alteration a surge of sorely needed humanitarian assistance into Gaza, arsenic much Israeli hostages are released successful speech for Palestinians successful Israeli custody, Israeli forces permission immoderate areas and the parties negociate the presumption of a imperishable ceasefire.

Reunited

The 3 Israeli ex-hostages, Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher, were taken backmost to Israel by information forces aft Hamas fighters handed them implicit to the Red Cross successful a bustling quadrate successful Gaza City, surrounded by a oversea of people, including gunmen.

“After 471 days Emily is yet home,“ said her parent Mandy Damari, but “for excessively galore different families the intolerable hold continues”.

Steinbrecher’s household said successful a connection that “our heroic Dodo, who survived 471 days successful Hamas captivity, begins her rehabilitation travel today”.

In cardinal Tel Aviv, determination was elation among the assemblage who had waited for hours for the quality of their release.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum run radical hailed their instrumentality arsenic “a beacon of light”, portion Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they had emerged “from darkness”.

During this archetypal truce, 33 Israeli hostages, 31 of whom were taken by militants during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, are owed to beryllium returned from Gaza successful speech for astir 1,900 Palestinians.

Of those, much than 230 Palestinian prisoners serving beingness sentences for deadly attacks against Israelis are slated for deportation, according to a database made nationalist by the Israeli authorities. Two Hamas officials said the prisoners would beryllium deported chiefly to Qatar oregon Turkey.

The Israel Prison Service confirmed the merchandise of 90 prisoners aboriginal Monday.

In Beitunia, adjacent Ofer prison, AFP journalists saw crowds cheering and chanting arsenic buses carrying the freed inmates arrived, with immoderate climbing atop the pb autobus and unfurling a Hamas flag.

The adjacent hostage-prisoner swap would instrumentality spot connected Saturday, a elder Hamas authoritative told AFP.

‘Nothing left’

Minutes aft the truce began, the United Nations said the archetypal trucks carrying desperately needed humanitarian assistance had entered the Palestinian territory.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the truce, saying “it is imperative that this ceasefire removes the important information and governmental obstacles to delivering aid”.

The truce is intended to pave the mode for a imperishable extremity to the war, but a 2nd signifier has yet to beryllium finalised.

It came into effect astir 3 hours aboriginal than scheduled, and during the delay, Gaza rescuers said Israeli bombardment killed 19 people.

Thousands of Palestinians carrying tents, apparel and their idiosyncratic belongings were seen going location connected Sunday, aft the warfare that displaced the immense bulk of Gazans, successful galore cases much than once.

Returning Jabalia nonmigratory Walid Abu Jiab said helium recovered “massive, unprecedented destruction”, with “nothing left” successful Gaza’s war-battered north, which has seen aggravated unit implicit the past months.

In Deir el-Balah, successful cardinal Gaza, displaced pistillate Umm Hasan al-Buzom, 70, said she would adjacent “crawl my mode backmost home” if needed.

“But we can’t instrumentality for fearfulness that the (Israeli) concern forces mightiness sprout astatine us.”

Aid workers accidental bluish Gaza was peculiarly hard hit, and lacked each essentials including food, structure and water.

The World Health Organization said it was acceptable to determination assistance into Gaza but that it would request “systematic access” crossed the territory to bash so.

The agency’s chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, aboriginal said connected X that “restoring the wellness strategy successful Gaza volition beryllium a analyzable and challenging task, fixed the standard of destruction”.

‘Commitment’

Another UN agency, the World Food Programme, said it was moving afloat throttle to get nutrient to arsenic galore Gazans arsenic possible.

“We’re trying to scope a cardinal radical wrong the shortest imaginable time,“ the WFP’s lawman enforcement director, Carl Skau, told AFP.

Before the war, Gaza’s colonisation stood astatine 2.4 cardinal people.

On the eve of the truce, Netanyahu called the archetypal signifier a “temporary ceasefire” and said Israel had US enactment to instrumentality to the warfare if necessary.

Hamas’s equipped wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said its adherence to the truce would beryllium “contingent connected the enemy’s commitment”.

The war’s lone erstwhile truce, for 1 week successful November 2023, besides saw the merchandise of hostages held by militants successful speech for Palestinian prisoners.

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

Of the 251 radical taken hostage, 91 are inactive successful Gaza, including 34 the Israeli subject says are dead.

The truce took effect connected the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration for a 2nd word arsenic US president.

Trump, who claimed recognition for the ceasefire deal, said connected US tv web NBC that helium had told Netanyahu the warfare “has to end”.

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