Hamas releases first three Israeli prisoners after Gaza ceasefire comes into effect. Israel-Palestine conflict news

Israeli officials have confirmed that Hamas has handed over the first three female detainees since a ceasefire agreement for the war-torn Gaza Strip came into effect.

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said Sunday evening that Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were handed over to the Red Cross and are “in safe hands” in Israel. ,

Red Cross vehicles flew from Gaza City into the heavily besieged northern part of the enclave after Hamas brought the detainees to As-Sarayah Square after a crowd gathered there.

A Red Cross delegation was verifying the identities of 90 Palestinian prisoners ahead of their release from Israel’s Ofer prison under the ceasefire agreement.

The ceasefire agreement is due to be implemented in three phases and will include sending many more humanitarian aid trucks to Gaza to ease the disaster in the enclave. The first phase will last for 42 days as Israeli forces withdraw from parts of Gaza.

Hamas military spokesman Abu Obaidah said in a televised speech that the Palestinian group remained committed to the agreement, but its continued implementation would depend on Israeli reciprocity.

Obeidah said a deal could have been achieved a year ago and was blocked because of the “malign ambitions” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Israeli leader has insisted he will continue to fight as some far-right lawmakers in his government, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have resigned in protest. Following the release of the first detainees, Netanyahu stressed that Israel would achieve all goals set in the war, including “defeating” Hamas and releasing all detainees.

The United Nations and world leaders also welcomed the ceasefire, with outgoing United States President Joe Biden saying that “the guns in Gaza have fallen silent”.

Thousands of Palestinians celebrated a long-awaited ceasefire that could improve the situation in Gaza, after more than 15 months of deadly Israeli attacks that have killed at least 46,913 Palestinians and left thousands missing.

Reporting from As-Sarayah Square, Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim al-Khalili described scenes of joy among the crowds.

“They are extremely happy,” he said. “There are celebrations everywhere after 15 months of war which destroyed everything. This is a historic moment.”

The detainees are expected to be taken immediately to the Israeli military for identification, then airlifted to a hospital in the central part of Israel. They will remain there for at least four days for psychological and medical evaluation after being reunited with their families.

Israeli prison services, as well as Israeli forces, are reporting this week on how they are preparing for the release of detainees.

On October 7, 2023, about 250 people were captured during a Hamas-led offensive in southern Israel. About 100 captives are still in Gaza after others were released or their bodies recovered in late 2023, although it is unclear how many survive.

Al Jazeera obtained a list of 90 Palestinian prisoners who would be released in exchange for three Israeli detainees.

All are from the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, the list includes mostly women and some children.

The name of Khaleda Jarrar, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the occupied West Bank, is also included in this list. Others on the list include at least 12 young Palestinian men, some of whom are under the age of 19 and minors.

According to Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, several children and minors have been arrested for throwing stones at Israeli forces.

“We’re talking about light sentences,” she said. “The list of prisoners, which lists hundreds of names, has been released, most of them in administrative detention, which is a tactic used by Israeli policy to detain people indefinitely without charge. “These administrative detentions keep getting renewed again and again.”

Hours before the ceasefire took effect, Israel announced it had recovered the body of Oron Shaul, a soldier killed in the 2014 Israel-Hamas war, whose remains have since been held.