This will be the second of such releases under the Gaza ceasefire deal. The Palestinian Islamist movement would “release four Israeli female detainees in exchange for a second group of Palestinian prisoners,” Hamas official Taher al-Nunu said, according to the news agency AFP.
The Israel Prison Service said that it released 90 Palestinian prisoners early on Monday (January 20) as a part of the Gaza ceasefire agreement that came into effect on Sunday (January 19) after a brief delay.
“All the terrorists were released from Ofer prison and the Jerusalem detention center,” the service said, referring to the Palestinian prisoners, in a statement issued just before 1:30 am local time (2330 GMT Sunday).
Hamas handed over three Israeli hostages during the first stage of a highly anticipated truce deal aimed at ending the 15-month war in the beleaguered Palestinian enclave.
Tears of joy and warm hugs marked scenes in Israel following the reunion of the released hostages with their families in the first phase of the deal.
Three women, named Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari, who were held hostage, were handed over to the Red Cross officials by armed men.
All three released hostages were under captivity during Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023, which killed more than 1,200 people.
The militants handed over the three women in exchange for the release of 90 Palestinian prisoners.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted videos and pictures of the three women on his official X handle. All saw them, draped in Israeli flags, reuniting with their families. On the phone, Netanyahu welcomed them back home, “Tell them for me: Romi, Doron, and Emily – a whole nation hugs you. Welcome home”.
“We didn’t have any sign of life from her for a whole year, and this is the first time we see her, and we see her walking on her two feet, and we are just waiting here to hug her and say how much we love her,” the released hostages’ family said.
