Israeli authorities have confirmed that Hamas handed over the first three female captives as a ceasefire deal for the war-ravaged Gaza Strip took effect.
Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Sunday evening that 24-year-old Romi Gonen, 28-year-old Emily Damari, and 31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher were handed over to the Red Cross and are “in safe hands” in Israel.
The Red Cross vehicles took off from Gaza City in the heavily besieged northern part of the enclave after Hamas brought the captives to as-Saraya Square as a crowd gathered.
A Red Cross delegation was verifying the identities of 90 Palestinian prisoners ahead of their releas from Israel’s Ofer Prison as part of the ceasefire agreement.
The ceasefire deal is set to roll out in three phases and includes sending in many more humanitarian aid trucks into Gaza to alleviate the disaster in the enclave. The first stage will last 42 days as Israeli forces pull out of parts of Gaza.
Hamas military spokesman Abu Obeida said in a televised speech that the Palestinian group is committed to the agreement, but continued implementation will depend on Israel’s reciprocity. A deal could have been achieved over a year ago and was blocked by the “malicious ambitions” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he said.
The Israeli leader has insisted he will continue fighting as some far-right legislators in his government led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir resigned in protest. Netanyahu emphasised after the first captives were released that Israel will achieve all the goals it has set in the war, which include “defeating” Hamas and releasing all captives.
The United Nations and world leaders also welcomed the ceasefire, with outgoing United States President Joe Biden saying “guns in Gaza have gone silent”.
Thousands of Palestinians celebrated the long-anticipated ceasefire that could improve conditions in Gaza, after more than 15 months of deadly Israeli attacks that have killed more than 46,000 Palestinians and left thousands missing.
Reporting from as-Saraya Square, Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim Khalili described scenes of joy among the crowd.
“They are beyond happy,” he said. “Celebrations are taking place all over the place after 15 months of war that destroyed everything. This is a historic moment.”
The captives are expected to be taken immediately to Israeli forces 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 evaluations after being reunited with their families.
The Israeli prison services, as well as Israeli forces, have been reporting this week how they have been preparing for the release of the captives.
About 250 people were seized during the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. About 100 captives still remain in Gaza after others were released in late 2023 or their bodies were recovered, although it remains unclear exactly how many are alive.
Al Jazeera obtained the list of 90 Palestinian prisoners who will be released in exchange for the three Israeli captives.
All are from the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, with the list comprising mostly women and a few children.
The list includes the name of Khalida Jarrar, a leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the occupied West Bank. Others on the list include at least 12 young Palestinian men, some of them under 19 years of age, and minors.
According to Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, many children and minors have been arrested for charges related to throwing rocks at Israeli forces.
“We are talking about light sentences,” she said. “The list of prisoners, the hundreds of names that have been released, are mostly serving administrative detention, which is a tactic used by Israeli policy to keep people in prison indefinitely without charges. These administrative detentions keep getting renewed over and over again.”
Hours before the ceasefire took effect, Israel announced it had retrieved the body of Oron Shaul, a soldier killed in the 2014 Israel-Hamas war and whose remains have been held since then.
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