Three Gaza hostages have been released and are now back in Israel, the Israel military said Sunday evening, following the implementation of a cease-fire in the morning.
“They’re home,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a post on X along with images of the three women, who had been taken captive by Hamas when the militant group attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The three released hostages are Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher. Damari has dual British-Israeli citizenship. They will undergo an initial medical assessment, the IDF said. An Israeli official told the media that the Red Cross had said the three women were in good health.
The cease-fire agreement, brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the U.S., pauses the 15-month war that began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas militants killed around 1,200 Israelis and took some 250 hostages into Gaza.
The deal has three phases. The first stage will see the staggered release of 33 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and more than 700 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Following the release of first three hostages, Israel is now expected to free the first Palestinian detainees. According to Hamas, the 90 Palestinians to go free on Sunday include 69 women and 21 teenage boys.
Negotiations for the second phase of the agreement are due to begin on Day 16 of the cease-fire. The talks would include discussion of a permanent end to the fighting, a total withdrawal of Israel’s armed forces and the release of the remaining hostages.
Phase three would involve the return of dead hostages and the start of a major rebuilding effort in Gaza, which has been devastated by the war.
“It is vital that the deal is fully implemented to allow all the hostages to be released, and to ensure a permanent end to hostilities,” the Council of the European Union said in a statement. It is important “that much needed humanitarian aid will reach civilians in Gaza,” it added.
Israel’s Cabinet ratified the agreement in the early hours of Saturday despite opposition from hard-right ministers which threatened to derail the process. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that the first exchange of prisoners would take place “as early as Sunday.”
On Sunday morning, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right politician with strong anti-Palestinian views, resigned from the government, calling the cease-fire a “reckless deal” in a post on X. Other ministers from his Otzma Yehudit Party also quit.
