A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold Sunday, seemingly starting a six-week pause in 15 months of fighting in Gaza and setting the stage for the release of dozens of hostages held by the militants, including three young women freed in the first hours of the truce.
The truce started at 11:15 a.m. local time and hours later, a Red Cross convoy headed into Gaza, the narrow strip of land along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, and secured the release of Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31.
Meanwhile, Israel began to move dozens of Palestinian prisoners toward Gaza. Israel had pledged to free them as part of the ceasefire deal agreed to last week after a year of futile negotiations.
U.S. President Joe Biden, who spurred negotiations leading to the truce, said on his last full day in office, “After so much pain, destruction, and loss of life, today the guns in Gaza have gone silent.”
Gonen had been abducted from a music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, during the shock Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and led to the abduction of about 250 hostages, while the other two women handed over to Israeli authorities were kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Damari is an Israeli-British dual citizen.
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