The sounds of celebration replaced those of explosions in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, as a fragile ceasefire took effect after 470 days of war, allowing some hostages to return home to Israel, Palestinians imprisoned in Israel to be released and the displaced people of Gaza search for what remained of their homes.
Under the terms of the hard-won deal, fighting between the Israeli army and Hamas militants stopped at 11:15 a.m., raising hopes of a more lasting end to a war that has plunged the Middle East into fear and uncertainty .
The first hostages – three women seized when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023 – were released shortly after. Early Monday morning, the Israeli Prison Service said it had released 90 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, where they were welcomed by emotional family members.
At the same time, aid deliveries have increased – over 630 trucks in a single day – to Gaza.
Joyful Palestinians honked horns and blared music in the central Gaza town of Deir al Balah, where children ran through the streets. The Israelis also celebrated as the hostages began to return, with anxious families awaiting the release of yet more.
But underlying the relief was the knowledge that this phase of the ceasefire will only last 42 days and free only a portion of the hostages, and that major diplomatic obstacles lie ahead if it is to be extended. Israel and Hamas reached the agreement in part by postponing their most difficult disputes until a nebulous “second phase” that neither side is sure of reaching.
Almost as soon as the bombs stopped falling, masked gunmen and uniformed Hamas police officers came out of hiding and onto the streets of Gaza. The show of force was unmistakable, demonstrating that even after an overwhelming Israeli military campaign aimed at destroying Hamas, the militant group remains the dominant Palestinian power in Gaza.
On Saturday evening, as the ceasefire approached, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reminded enemies and allies alike that the first phase of the deal was temporary and that Israel could still return to the fight if talks on the following the agreement the ceasefire is broken.
“We reserve the right to return to war, if necessary, with the support of the United States,” said Netanyahu, whose coalition has been sharply divided by the ceasefire agreement. he said in a televised address.
Yet despite the worries of the following weeks and months, there were moments of joy on Sunday.
One of the freed hostages, Emily Damari, was seen smiling and leaning out of the open window of a van as she was transported to Tel Aviv’s Sheba hospital. Ms. Damari was last seen free 15 months ago, when she was abducted from her home on a kibbutz in southern Israel. She had been shot in the hand and taken away in her own car, with a militant behind the wheel.
A photo of Ms. Damari released by the Israeli army on Sunday showed her still smiling, although she was missing two middle fingers on her left hand. All three hostages were later reunited with their relatives, who cried and held them tightly after more than a year apart, according to footage released by the Israeli government. Their parents, siblings and friends had fought an international campaign for their freedom.
Under the terms of the agreement, Hamas will gradually release 33 hostages and in exchange Israel will release more than 1,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, including some sentenced to life in prison for brutal attacks against Israelis. Ninety of them, all women and minors, were reportedly freed on Sunday.
Friends of the three hostages released Sunday danced, sang and waved Israeli flags in the air as they gathered at a hospital helipad. Gal Kubani, 28, a friend of Ms Damari, said she was “delighted” at the news of her release and “proud that Emily survived this madness”.
In Gaza the celebration was tempered by grief. According to Gaza health officials, who make no distinction between civilians and fighters, more than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli military campaign. Large areas of the enclave lie in ruins, and many displaced people have no homes to return to.
Soon after the fighting ended, waves of displaced Palestinians began heading north, eager to see if any part of their homes were still standing.
Many people said they were determined to begin reclaiming the lives they had once known, despite the massive amount of destruction in the enclave. “The joy of returning home is overwhelming, but it is mixed with sadness,” said Ahed al-Okka, 52, a construction worker from Gaza City.
For others, like Suhaila Dawaas, an evacuee from Gaza who said she lost eight relatives in the war, grief has overshadowed any hope for the future. His home was largely destroyed, although he hoped to find some reminders of the life his family once had among the rubble.
“I can’t say I’m happy about this reprieve,” said Ms. Dawaas, a 55-year-old mother of eight. “What do we have left after all? After the endless losses, the destruction, the pain?”
Drone videos taken over Gaza show people scattering across a wasteland. Gaza’s dense neighborhoods had been reduced to crushed concrete slabs, the streets turned to dust. With countless bodies still trapped under the rubble, members of Gaza’s Civil Emergency Service went to work.
The war began after Hamas invaded southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, Israel says, and taking 250 hostages. Around 100 hostages remain in Gaza, although around a third are believed to be dead.
Both Israel and Hamas have retained some of their bargaining chips. At the end of the first phase of the truce, Hamas will still have around two-thirds of the hostages. And Israel will still occupy parts of Gaza and hold key prisoners, including Marwan Barghouti, a militant leader and iconic Palestinian political figure.
On Sunday, United Nations trucks carrying humanitarian aid began entering Gaza just 15 minutes after the ceasefire took effect, according to Jonathan Whittall, head of the United Nations humanitarian office for the Palestinian territories. Months of lawlessness and restrictions on humanitarian deliveries had reduced aid to a trickle.
Two convoys carrying parcels of ready-to-eat food and wheat flour arrived in the enclave on Sunday, one through the Kerem Shalom crossing in southeast Gaza, and another at a crossing in the north, according to Martin Penner, a spokesman for the United Nations. “World Food Programme. The ceasefire agreement stipulates that 600 trucks can deliver aid to Gazans daily, although it is unclear how the supplies will be distributed.
The ceasefire has already opened deep rifts within Prime Minister Netanyahu’s governing coalition.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister, resigned from the government in protest on Sunday and withdrew his Jewish Power party from the coalition. The Religious Zionism party, led by Bezalel Smotrich, has suggested it might do the same unless Netanyahu continues the war after the initial truce. If it did, Netanyahu’s government would win less than half the seats in the Knesset. The Israeli Parliament, which could ultimately force the government to fall and force new elections.
Teams of diplomats representing both President Biden and President-elect Donald J. Trump played important roles in brokering the ceasefire, and both men took credit for them on Biden’s penultimate day in office.
In his remarks in South Carolina, Biden defended his unwavering support for Israel, despite the advice of some who had warned him that it could drag the United States into a broader war. “Abandoning the path I was following would not have led us to the ceasefire we are seeing today,” he said.
Reporting contribution was provided by Adam Rasgon, Nathan Odenheimer, Efrat Livni, Johnatan Reiss, Gabby Sobelmann, Myra Novec, Viviana Yee, Fatima Abdul Karim AND Yan Zhuang.