On January 19, 2025, trucks carrying humanitarian aid arrived in the Gaza corridor via the Kerem Shalom crossing, also known as Karem Abu Salem.
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Palestinians took to the streets to celebrate and return to the rubble of bombed-out homes on Sunday as Hamas handed over the first three hostages to the Red Cross under a ceasefire deal that halted the start of fighting in Gaza after a delay.
Live television footage showed three female hostages emerging from a car, surrounded by armed Hamas men. The hostages boarded an ICRC vehicle as fighters in the crowd shouted the name of Hamas’s armed wing.
The Red Cross said the women were in good health, an Israeli official told Reuters. Earlier, Hamas confirmed the first three Israeli hostages to be released, namely Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari.
Buses await the release of Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hamas said the first group of people released in exchange for hostages included 69 women and 21 teenage boys.
The first phase of a truce in the 15-month-old war between Israel and Hamas came into force after a three-hour delay, during which Israeli forces attacked the Gaza Strip, killing 13 people, according to the Palestinian health authority.
The truce calls for a halt to fighting, the delivery of aid to Gaza and the freedom of 33 of the 98 Israeli and foreign hostages still held there in a six-week first phase in exchange for being held in Israeli prisons hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
On the day Israel and Hamas reached a new ceasefire agreement in the Gaza corridor, an explosion occurred on the northern border of Gaza.
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After the shooting stopped, Palestinians took to the streets, some celebrating and others visiting graves.
Aya, a displaced woman from Gaza City who has been seeking refuge in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, said: “After 15 months of being lost in the desert, I feel like I have finally found water. I feel alive again. Came over.
In the northern part of the territory, where Israel has conducted some of its most intense airstrikes and battles with militants, people slog through a patch of debris and twisted metal on narrow roads.
Armed Hamas fighters drove through the southern city of Khan Younis as crowds cheered and chanted. Hamas police officers wearing blue uniforms have been deployed in some areas after months of trying to ward off Israeli attacks.
People who had gathered to cheer on the fighters chanted “Hail to the Qassam Brigades” – the armed wing of Hamas.
“Despite (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu, all the resistance factions remain,” one militant told Reuters. “This is a ceasefire, a comprehensive ceasefire that God wills, despite His arrangements, The war will not happen again.”
The ceasefire agreement came into effect on the eve of the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump after months of on-again, off-again negotiations brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the United States.
On June 22, 2024, the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant organization Hamas continued. After Israeli bombing, thick smoke billowed over Shejaya, an eastern suburb of Gaza City, and people ran for cover.
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Israel is expected to release the first batch of Palestinian detainees under the deal once the first three hostages are returned on Sunday. According to Hamas, the 90 Palestinians released on Sunday included 69 women and 21 teenage boys.
No detailed plans were drawn up to govern Gaza after the war, let alone rebuild it. Hamas’ return to control of Gaza will test Israel’s commitment to the truce, which has said it would resume the war unless the militant group that has controlled the enclave since 2007 is completely dismantled.
Hardline National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gver resigned from the cabinet on Sunday over the ceasefire, although his party said it would not try to overthrow Netanyahu’s government. The other most prominent hardline finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, remains in the government but has said he will resign if the war ends and Hamas is not completely destroyed.
Trump’s national security adviser-designate Mike Walz said the United States would support Israel “in doing what it has to do” if Hamas reneges on the deal.
“Hamas will never rule Gaza. This is completely unacceptable.”
On January 18, 2025, hundreds of people gathered in Tel Aviv, Israel, to demonstrate, demanding that the hostages return home immediately once the ceasefire comes into effect.
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broken streets
The streets of Gaza City, a fragmented city in the north of the territory, were already packed with people waving Palestinian flags and filming the scene on their mobile phones. Several carts laden with family possessions rolled along the avenue strewn with rubble and debris.
Gaza City resident Ahmed Abu Ayham, 40, who has taken refuge with his family in Khan Younis, said the scenes of destruction in his hometown were “terrible”, adding that while a ceasefire was possible Lives have been saved, but it’s not time to celebrate yet.
“We are in pain, deep pain, and it’s time for us to hug each other and cry.”
Trucks carrying fuel and aid lined up at border crossings in the hours before the ceasefire came into effect. The World Food Program said they began crossing on Sunday morning.
On January 18, 2025, hundreds of people gathered in Tel Aviv, Israel, to demonstrate, demanding that the hostages return home immediately once the ceasefire comes into effect.
Nir Kedar | Anadolu | Getty Images
The agreement calls for 600 truckloads of aid, including 50 truckloads of fuel, to be allowed into Gaza per day during the initial six-week ceasefire. Half of the 600 aid trucks will be transported to northern Gaza, where experts warn of looming famine.
According to Israeli statistics, the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, 2023, when militants attacked Israeli towns and villages, killing 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages.
Israeli attacks have turned Gaza into a wasteland and more than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to medical officials in the enclave. Nearly all of the enclave’s 2.3 million people are homeless. About 400 Israeli soldiers also died.
