Israel releases 90 Palestinian prisoners as part of ceasefire deal

Israel freed 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees today, hours after three Israeli hostages released from Hamas captivity in Gaza returned to Israel.

Large white buses carrying the detainees exited the gates of Israel’s Ofer prison, just outside the West Bank city of Ramallah, as celebratory fireworks erupted overhead. Crowds of Palestinians thronged the buses, chanting and cheering.

According to a list provided by the Palestinian Authority’s Commission for Prisoners’ Affairs, all of those released were women or minors. Israel detained all of the people on the list for what it said were offences related to Israel’s security, from throwing stones to more serious accusations such as attempted murder.

The Israeli military, which occupied the West Bank, repeatedly warned Palestinians against any form of public celebration. The release took place in the middle of the night, in what Palestinians criticised as an attempt to dampen the mood and deter crowds from welcoming the prisoners home.

The most prominent of the detainees being freed on Sunday (local time) was Khalida Jarrar, 62, a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or PFLP. The secular leftist faction was involved in hijackings and other attacks against Israel in the 1970s but has scaled back its militant activities in recent years.

Since her arrest in December 2023, Jarrar has been held under indefinitely renewable six-month administrative detention orders, a practice denounced by human rights groups as a violation of international law.

Dalal Khaseeb, 53, the sister of the late senior Hamas official Saleh Arouri — who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Beirut in January 2024 — was also being released, as was Abla Abdelrasoul, the wife of jailed PFLP leader Ahmad Saadat.

The agreement for the swap, laid out as part of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, involved Hamas gradually releasing 33 Israeli hostages held in the Palestinian enclave over the next six weeks in exchange for Israel releasing nearly 2000 prisoners and detainees from the West Bank and Gaza.

The first three hostages released from Gaza have arrived in Israel, the military announced, hours after the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold. Their mothers were waiting to meet them.

Footage showed the three women walking to Red Cross vehicles in Gaza City, surrounded by a crowd that swelled into the thousands as people held up cell phones and scrambled onto cars. The vehicles were accompanied by masked, armed men who wore green Hamas headbands and struggled to guard the handover.

No further glimpses of the three women were immediately expected as they were taken for medical assessment. "They appear to be in good health," President Joe Biden said in brief remarks.

In Tel Aviv, thousands of people who gathered to watch the news on large screens erupted in applause. For months, many had gathered in the square to demand a ceasefire deal. Relatives of the women jumped, clapped and wept.

"An entire nation embraces you," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were released. Gonen was abducted from the Nova music festival, while the others were kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Damari is an Israeli-British dual citizen and Steinbrecher has Israeli and Romanian citizenship.

The ceasefire ushers in an initial six weeks of calm and raises hopes for the release of nearly 100 remaining hostages and an end to the devastating 15-month war. A last-minute delay by Hamas put off the truce's start by nearly three hours, but the spokesman for Hamas' military wing later said it is committed to the ceasefire.

Even before the ceasefire took effect, celebrations broke out across Gaza and some Palestinians began heading home.

Next up was the release of 90 Palestinian prisoners later today. In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, families and friends gathered excitedly as cars honked and people waved the Palestinian flag.

The truce, which started at 11.15am local time (9.15pm NZ time), is the first step toward ultimately ending the conflict and returning hostages abducted in Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack.

In the interim between the planned ceasefire time and when it took hold, Israeli fire killed at least 26 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It did not say whether they were civilians or fighters. The military has warned people to stay away from Israeli forces as they retreat to a buffer zone inside Gaza.

Israel’s hard-line national security minister, meanwhile, said his Jewish Power faction was quitting the government in protest over the ceasefire. Itamar Ben-Gvir’s departure weakens Netanyahu’s coalition but will not affect the truce.

In a separate development, Israel announced it had recovered the body of Oron Shaul, a soldier killed in the 2014 Israel-Hamas war, in a special operation in Gaza. The bodies of Shaul and another soldier, Hadar Goldin, had remained after the 2014 war.

The ceasefire deal was announced last week after a year of mediation by the United States, Qatar and Egypt. The outgoing Biden administration and President-elect Donald Trump's team had both pressed for an agreement to be reached before the inauguration on Tuesday.

Netanyahu on Saturday (local time) warned that he had Trump's backing to continue fighting if necessary.

The 42-day first phase of the ceasefire should see 33 hostages gradually returned and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees released. The next release of hostages is expected on Saturday (local time).

There also should be a surge of humanitarian aid, with hundreds of trucks entering Gaza daily, far more than Israel allowed before. The UN World Food Program said trucks started entering through two crossings. Biden’s top Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, told CBS 800 trucks were expected to flow in today.

This is just the second ceasefire in the war, longer and more consequential than a weeklong pause in November 2023, with the potential to end the fighting for good.

Negotiations on the ceasefire's far more difficult second phase should begin in just over two weeks. Major questions remain, including whether the war will resume after the first phase.

Across Gaza, there was relief and grief. The fighting has killed tens of thousands, destroyed large areas and displaced most of the population.

“This ceasefire was a joy mixed with pain, because my son was martyred in this war,” said Rami Nofal, a displaced man from Gaza City.

Masked militants appeared at some celebrations, where crowds chanted slogans in support of them, according to Associated Press reporters in Gaza. The Hamas-run police began deploying in public after mostly lying low due to Israeli airstrikes.

Some families set off for home on foot, their belongings loaded on donkey carts.

In the southern city of Rafah, residents returned to find massive destruction. Some found human remains in the rubble, including skulls.

“It’s like you see a Hollywood horror movie,” resident Mohamed Abu Taha said as he inspected the ruins of his family's home.

Already, Israeli forces were pulling back from areas. Residents of Beit Lahiya and Jabaliya in northern Gaza told the AP they didn’t see Israeli troops there.

In Israel, people remained divided over the agreement.

Asher Pizem, 35, from the city of Sderot, said the deal had merely postponed the next confrontation with Hamas. He also criticised Israel for allowing aid into Gaza, saying it would contribute to the militant group's revival.

“They will take the time and attack again,” he said while viewing Gaza's smouldering ruins from a small hill in southern Israel with other Israelis gathered there.

When Biden was asked today whether he has any concerns about Hamas regrouping, he said no.

The toll of the war has been immense, and new details will now emerge. The head of the Rafah municipality in Gaza, Ahmed al-Sufi, said a large part of the infrastructure, including water, electricity and road networks, was destroyed, in addition to thousands of homes.

Over 46,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which says women and children make up more than half the fatalities but does not distinguish between civilians and fighters.

The Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that sparked the war killed over 1200 people, mostly civilians, and militants abducted around 250 others. More than 100 hostages were freed during the weeklong ceasefire in November 2023.

Some 90% of Gaza’s population has been displaced. Rebuilding — if the ceasefire reaches its final phase — will take several years at least. Major questions about Gaza’s future, political and otherwise, remain unresolved.