A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza went into effect on Sunday morning. Hostages held in the strip and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails will be freed in the first phase of the deal.
The first three Israeli hostages were released after the ceasefire officially began. Hours later, Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Israel's military says Red Cross has told it hostages have been transferred and are on their way toward Israeli forces.
About 90 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel were also freed Sunday as part of a hostage and prisoner exchange, due to last for weeks, between Israel and Hamas. The ceasefire has raised hopes the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, where almost 47,000 Palestinians have been killed and the enclave has been reduced to ruins, could be brought to an end.
The first hostages held by Hamas since October 7, 2023 were released Sunday morning, with 33 hostages expected to be released in the coming weeks.
Chapel Hill native Keith Siegel is on a list of hostages that could be released under the latest Gaza ceasefire, but he’s not expected to gain his freedom on Sunday.
Brett McGurk, White House National Security Coordinator, spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.
The deal ushers in an initial six-week period of calm and raises hopes for the release of dozens of militant-held hostages and an end to the war.
Two buses with tinted windows were seen leaving the Israeli Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank in the early hours of Monday, AFP journalists saw, hours after Hamas released three hostages in the Gaza Strip.
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.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) facilitated the release and transfer of three hostages out of Gaza to Israel, and 90 Palestinian detainees from Israel to the occupied Palestinian territory.