Mon. Feb 10th, 2025

The three Israeli hostages, held by the IDF inside Gaza on their way to Israel

Photo: Israel Defense Forces

The three Israeli hostages freed by Hamas on the first day of the ceasefire have already been handed over to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) inside the Gaza Strip by Red Cross teams and are on their way to Israel, a military spokesman confirmed.

The three civilian women - Emily Damari, Doron Steinbrecher and Romi Gonen - were released after 471 days of captivity in exchange for 90 Palestinian terrorists, according to the agreement reached between Israel and Hamas.

According to Palestinian media, the handover to the Red Cross by the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic terrorist group Hamas, took place in a central square in Gaza City.

They are the first hostages to be released as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which came into effect on Sunday morning after a delay of nearly three hours.

Once the IDF receives the hostages and confirms their identity, 90 Palestinian prisoners will be released, most of them in the West Bank, but 14 of them in East Jerusalem.

In the first phase of the deal, Israel and Hamas have agreed to a six-week ceasefire, which will see a gradual exchange of 33 Israeli hostages for more than 1.900 Palestinian terrorist prisoners.

During those six weeks, negotiations will also take place for a second phase of the truce, which would complete the release of all Israeli hostages in Gaza and lay the groundwork for an end to the war.

However, senior Israeli officials such as Foreign Minister Gideon Saar have stressed that the ceasefire is temporary and that the war will not end until Israel achieves all its military objectives, which include completely eliminating Hamas.

President Isaac Herzog today visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the holiest place of worship in Judaism, to pray for the release of the three hostages and the rest of the Israeli hostages in Gaza.

Agencies contributed to this Aurora article

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