TEL AVIV — Israelis celebrated the return Sunday evening of the first wave of hostages from the Gaza Strip, hours after Israel and Hamas‘ long-awaited ceasefire went into effect and spurred many displaced Palestinians to begin the journey home by foot after 15 months of brutal conflict.
Many hope the hard-fought reprieve will usher in a permanent end to the fighting that has left more than 46,800 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, according to local health officials, and allow the rebuilding of the enclave, much of it reduced to ruins by ferocious Israeli airstrikes and shelling.
President Joe Biden celebrated the safe return of three female hostages — the first in a coordinated effort expected to continue in the coming days — and said a ceasefire in Gaza was reached due to “the pressure Israel put on Hamas backed by the United States.”
“Today, the guns in Gaza have gone silent,” Biden said in televised remarks in his final full day in office. He added that the three hostages “appear to be in good health.”
Video shared by the Israeli military showed the young women climbing out of a Red Cross vehicle and smiling and hugging waiting Israeli forces. They were later reunited with their mothers in Israel — with each pair of mothers and daughters embracing — and were due to be medically examined at a hospital near Tel Aviv.
The released hostages were all abducted on Oct. 7, 2023, in the Hamas-led terror attacks in which some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken hostage, marking a major escalation in a decadeslong conflict.
The three women released were: Doron Steinbrecher, 31, a veterinary nurse taken from kibbutz Kfar Aza; Emily Damari, 28, a British Israeli citizen also taken from the kibbutz and a key figure in the kibbutz’s youth community; and Romi Gonen, 24, taken from the Nova Music Festival. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group representing the relatives of captives, said Damari lost two fingers on Oct. 7.
Staff at Sheba Medical Center, where the hostages were brought, said they were given time to reunite with other family and friends at the hospital, and suggested none of the women required immediate medical procedures.
“I know, we all know, they have been through hell,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told military leaders. “They are emerging from darkness into light.”
On Sunday, hundreds of aid trucks began entering Gaza, where a dire humanitarian crisis has unfolded and critical infrastructure has been destroyed during Israel’s offensive in the enclave, which was launched following the Oct. 7 attacks.
Gazans took the rare opportunity to see what, if anything, was left of their homes after Israel’s blistering offensive, which destroyed or damaged most of the enclave’s buildings and displaced almost all of its 2 million residents. Amid the devastation, some celebrated in the streets to mark the beginning of the fragile truce.
The ceasefire came after an hourslong delay during which at least 19 people were killed in Gaza, according to the enclave’s Civil Defense agency, as Israeli forces continued to attack parts of the enclave before the truce came into effect.
NBC News’ crew in Gaza captured video of large crowds of families moving near Rafah, in southern Gaza, mostly on foot, in the hours during the delay. It was not clear if they knew the ceasefire had not yet come into effect.
One smiling young boy could be seen steering a cart pulled by a donkey as he exclaimed: “To Rafah, to Rafah.”