A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was holding Monday, with the two sides in the early stages of a six-week pause in fighting that could lead to an end to the war that began in October 2023.
So far three of the 99 hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza have been released, with 30 others set to be freed in the first stage of the agreement.
Israel also has set free 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, all of them women and teenagers, according to Hamas, with hundreds more to follow.
Hamas said Monday it would next release hostages held in Gaza on Saturday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and detainees who are held by Israel.
The United Nations has surged badly needed food aid to Gaza and says it plans to bring in 150 trucks of food every day to help Palestinian civilians who have seen their lives upended by the fighting.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said 915 aid trucks entered Gaza on Monday.
More than 1.8 million people are in need of emergency shelter in Gaza, according to the U.N., which also estimated in a report last year that it could take until 2040 to rebuild the territory’s destroyed housing.
In photos: Israel - Hamas ceasefire
The ceasefire began around midday Sunday, and hours later a Red Cross convoy brought hostages Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher safely back to Israel.
Early Monday, Israel freed the 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, with large buses taking them from Israel’s Ofer prison just outside the West Bank city of Ramallah. Palestinians crowded the buses, chanting and cheering, as celebratory fireworks burst overhead.
The ceasefire came after months of negotiations led by the United States, Egypt and Qatar. The talks intensified during the past few weeks, with teams from both the outgoing administration of U.S. President Joe Biden and the team of incoming President Donald Trump pushing for a deal before Trump’s inauguration Monday.
Mediators are on standby to address any problems that may arise during the ceasefire, according to media reports.
“These kinds of deals are never easy to maintain,” said Majed al-Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry.
“Any party could consider a threat a reason to violate the parameters of the agreement, and, therefore, we would end up with having to go in and to find a way to resume the ceasefire,” the spokesperson added.
The current conflict began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror group, attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage. Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 47,000, with most of them women and children, although the Israeli military contends, without providing evidence, that it has killed 17,000 militants.
In addition to the people being released and aid going into Gaza, the agreement also calls for Israeli troops to pull back into a buffer zone inside the Gaza Strip and for many displaced Palestinians to be allowed to return home.
Negotiations on the far more difficult second phase of this ceasefire should begin in just over two weeks. Major questions remain, including whether the war will resume after the first phase and how the rest of the hostages in Gaza will be freed.
Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
