A ceasefire in the Gaza Strip took effect on Sunday as Hamas released the first three female hostages it held for 15 months of the devastating war with Israel.
The ceasefire, which went into force at 11:15 a.m. local time (0915 GMT) after an almost three-hour delay, was brokered by mediators the United States, Qatar and Egypt in months of indirect talks between the warring sides.
The release of the first three hostages is expected to be followed by the release from Israel of 90 Palestinian prisoners as part of the first stage of the ceasefire deal.
The Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel killed some 1,200 people and left some 250 others captive. Nearly 100 hostages remain in Gaza.
Israel responded with an offensive that has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and militants but say women and children make up more than half the dead.
Here's the latest:
Drone footage by The Associated Press in the opening hours of the ceasefire in Gaza shows a gray and devastated landscape in the southern city of Khan Younis.
The footage of what had been densely populated neighborhoods shows roofs caved in, shattered buildings and massive support beams holding up nothing at all.
The images also show Palestinians moving on foot on some of the city’s streets as people begin to assess the damage without the threat of Israeli fire.
The United Nations has said much of Gaza’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed.
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden says “the guns in Gaza have gone silent” under a ceasefire deal he outlined in May.
Biden spoke during a visit to a church in North Charleston, South Carolina.
Speaking of the hostages that were being released under the ceasefire, Biden said he had just received a call saying the three were being released. Although he stressed that it was early and it wasn’t immediately clear whether they were out of Gaza, Biden said: “They appear to be in good health.”
Biden said it now falls on the Trump administration to help implement the deal.
“I was pleased to have our team speak as one voice in the final days. It was both necessary and effective and unprecedented,” Biden said.
“Success is going to require persistence and continuing support for our friends in the region, and the belief in diplomacy backed by deterrence,” the president said.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Families and friends of some of the Palestinians prisoners set to be released from Israel in exchange for hostages in Gaza gathered in Ramallah as cars honked and people waved the Palestinian flag.
About 90 Palestinian prisoners from the West Bank and Jerusalem will be released Sunday after Hamas freed the three Israeli hostages. The Palestinians include 69 women.
Fadia Barghouti was arrested from Ramallah in April and spent three months in prison without being given a reason, she said. Tonight she hopes to see friends she had been detained with.
“I’m happy, because of the ceasefire people can live peacefully,” she said.
She said the war in Gaza is evidence that no one in the Middle East can live peacefully until Palestinians have their rights.
TEL AVIV, Israel — Three Israeli hostages released from Gaza have been handed over to Israeli forces there in the first test of a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The three hostages are Romi Gonen, 24, kidnapped from the Nova music festival, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza.
Later on Sunday, Israel is expected to release around 90 Palestinian prisoners.
A gradual release of 33 captives over the next six weeks has been agreed on. In exchange, Israel will release almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and Palestinians from Gaza who have been detained.
TEL AVIV, Israel — The first three hostages set to be released from Gaza were transferred to the Red Cross and were on their way toward Israeli forces, the Israeli military announced Sunday, hours after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold.
Israeli media, carrying live footage from Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV, showed the hostages walking between vehicles as their convoy moved through Gaza City, surrounded by a huge crowd, with many people holding up phones and filming.
The vehicles were accompanied by armed men who wore green Hamas headbands and struggled to guard the cars from an unruly crowd that swelled into the thousands.
BEIRUT — The 90 Palestinian prisoners set to be released Sunday in exchange for three hostages held by Hamas include 69 women, according to a list provided to The Associated Press.
The youngest is Mahmoud Aliowat, 15.
The prisoners to be released include Khalida Jarrar, 62, a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a leftist faction with an armed group that has carried out attacks on Israelis. New York-based Human Rights Watch said her repeated arrests are part of Israel’s wider crackdown on non-violent political opposition.
Dalal Khaseeb, 53, the sister of former Hamas second-in-command Saleh Arouri, is also on the list, which was provided by Hamas. Arouri was killed in an Israeli strike in a southern Beirut suburb in January 2024.
Also listed for release is Abla Abdelrasoul, 68, the wife of detained PFLP leader Ahmad Saadat who killed an Israeli Cabinet minister in 2001 and has been serving a 30-year sentence.
CAIRO — The head of the Rafah municipality in Gaza has told journalists that it has become a “disaster city,” with massive destruction there.
Ahmed al-Sufi said Israel’s military has destroyed a large part of the infrastructure including water, electricity and road networks, in addition to thousands of homes and public facilities.
“Rafah faces a humanitarian tragedy,” he said, as Palestinians across the territory are beginning to discover the scope of the destruction in the first hours of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
TEL AVIV, Israel — Anticipation is growing as the first signs emerge of the handover of the first three hostages set to be released.
Hundreds of people have gathered in Tel Aviv in what has been called “Hostages Square” to watch the news on large screens. For months, thousands of Israelis have gathered weekly at the square to demand a deal to bring everyone home.
Israeli media are reporting that the army has asked the mothers of the three hostages to come to a meeting point at a base next to the Gaza border.
PARIS — President Emmanuel Macron says France intends to work with other nations to ensure “the full implementation” of the Gaza ceasefire.
A statement Sunday from his office said Macron “is delighted that the Israeli Cabinet approved the ceasefire agreement” and that “he warmly thanked the Egyptian, Qatari and American mediators who contributed to it.”
His office said Macron spoke Saturday by phone with the families of two French-Israeli hostages still in captivity, Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi.
The statement said their families “have been living for 15 months in an anguish that the entire French nation shares. ... Ohad and Ofer are now both on the first list of hostages to be released.” Macron has said that the two are on the list of 33 hostages to be released in the first phase of the ceasefire deal.
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau expressed concerns about the hostages’ health.
“I don’t know in what condition they will return. We don’t know how many are alive or dead and, among the living, in what psychological state we’ll find them in. But the hostages will be progressively released. It’s a good thing,” he told French broadcaster BFMTV.
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for national security adviser says the Gaza ceasefire deal should be “celebrated.”
“We will see three women coming out alive,” Michael Waltz, Trump’s pick to be his national security, told CBS of the first hostages set to be released. “Had we not entered this, these people would have died.”
Waltz said the hostages held by Hamas have been captive longer than U.S. hostages held during the Iranian crisis in 1979, “but now we’re going to have a Reagan moment.”
That recalled those hostage being freed after 444 days when Ronald Reagan took office in 1981.
“We’re going to have President Trump being sworn-in as hostages are coming out alive,” Waltz said.
LONDON — The mother of one of the three female hostages expected to be released Sunday said she was praying her daughter will return to Israel alive, adding, “I have more hope now than I’ve had in the last 15 months.”
Emily Damari, a 28-year-old British-Israeli national, was kidnapped from her apartment on Kibbutz Kfar Aza, a communal farming village hit hard by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
“It would be the most wonderful feeling in the world if she comes back, the most wonderful feeling. But I won’t believe it until I see and feel it for myself,” her mother Mandy said in a statement released on behalf of her family.
Emily Cohen, a family friend who has been representing the relatives, said: “These final few hours have been the most agonizing that you can imagine, after nearly 500 days of unending torment for Mandy and all the other families.”
Earlier Sunday Britain’s government said it stood ready to support Damari upon her release.
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli government spokesman David Mencer told journalists that “both Trump and Biden have given full backing to Israel’s right to return to the fighting if it reaches the conclusion that the second stage of negotiations is ineffectual.”
Mencer adds, however, that Israel wants “all stages” of the phased ceasefire deal to come into effect. Negotiations on the ceasefire’s second phase are to start just over two weeks into the first phase that began Sunday.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz in a separate statement reiterated that Israel won’t stop the war until everyone returns home. He added that “we will take care to maintain the buffer zones and respond forcefully to any violation and threat.” Israeli forces are withdrawing to buffer zones inside Gaza in the first phase.
CAIRO — Residents n Gaza’s southern city of Rafah returned to find massive destruction following a ceasefire that took hold Sunday. Some found human remains in the rubble.
“It’s an indescribable scene. It’s like you see a Hollywood horror movie,” Mohamed Abu Taha told The Associated Press as he and his brother inspected the family home in Rafah's Salam neighborhood. He described “flattened houses, human remains, skulls and other body parts, in the street and in the rubble.”
He shared footage of piles of rubble he said had been the family’s house.
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump has welcomed the impending release of three hostages held by militants in Gaza as part of a ceasefire agreement with Israel that started Sunday.
“Hostages starting to come out today! Three wonderful young women will be first,” Trump wrote in a post on the social media platform Truth Social.
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis expressed his gratitude for the Gaza ceasefire and praised the role of mediators.
Francis thanked all those involved who worked to make the deal possible, praying that all the hostages will be able to return home and embrace again their loved ones.
The pontiff noted that he continues to pray that whatever has been agreed upon “will be respected.”
Francis also prayed that greatly-needed humanitarian aid will be able to arrive in Gaza as soon as possible, and that the international community will continue to help both sides as to best foster “dialogue, hope and peace.”
CAIRO — The U.N. World Food Program said trucks have started entering Gaza through two crossings after the ceasefire took hold Sunday.
In a post on X, WFP said the first trucks carried life-saving wheat flour and ready-to-eat food parcels. It said it aims to deliver food daily along humanitarian corridors that include Egypt, Jordan and Israel crossing points.
“This ceasefire is critical for the humanitarian response. Safety, and access must be ensured,” the agency said.
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Celebrations erupted early Sunday across the Gaza Strip as people hoped for respite after 15 months of war that killed tens of thousands and destroyed large areas of the territory. Masked militants appeared at some of the celebrations, where the crowds chanted slogans in support of them, according to Associated Press reporters in Gaza.
Gaza’s Civil Defense, first responders who operate under the Hamas-run government, held a parade in Gaza City, where the rescuers waved a Palestinian flag alongside other revelers, according to AP footage. It also showed a small group of people carrying the flags of Islamic Jihad, the second largest militant group after Hamas, which took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the war.
The Hamas-run police began deploying in public after mostly lying low due to Israeli airstrikes. Gaza City residents said they had seen them operating in parts of the city, and the AP reporter in Khan Younis saw a small number out on the streets.
Palestinian residents began returning to their homes in parts of Gaza City early Sunday, even as tank shelling continued to the east, closer to the Israeli border, overnight. Families could be seen making their way back on foot, with their belongings loaded on donkey carts, residents said.
“The sound of shelling and explosions didn’t stop,” said Ahmed Matter, a Gaza City resident. He said he saw many families leaving their shelters and returning to their homes. “People are impatient. They want this madness to end,” he said.
PARIS — At a gathering in Paris, relatives of Israeli hostages say the coming days and weeks remain fraught with worries for them despite Hamas promises to release some of the captives under the long-awaited ceasefire with Israel.
Moshe Emilio Lavi, the brother-in-law of hostage Omri Miran, said at the gathering Saturday night that he’s concerned about the health effects for those held for more than 450 days.
“You can imagine that hostages who were subject to torture, abuse, sexual violence, deprived of food, water, sanitation, sunlight for so long -- everyone is a humanitarian case, which is why we as families reject the notion this is a humanitarian deal,” he said.
“The first phase is not. If it was, every hostage, including my brother-in-law, Omri, would return home tomorrow. So we are not optimistic.”
Olivier Jaoui, a relative of French-Israeli hostage Ofer Kalderon, said families have “many concerns because we don’t know who is alive, who is dead among the hostages and in particular, for us, Ofer Kalderon, our cousin.”
He added that “another concern, obviously, is in what state they will return.”
TEL AVIV, Israel — An Israeli official confirmed that Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were set to be released later on Sunday.
Gonen was abducted from the Nova music festival, while the other two were kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Damari is an Israeli-British dual citizen.
The official said the families had approved the publication of the names. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
— By Tia Goldenberg
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli media have identified one of the three hostages set to be released Sunday as part of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
Romi Gonen, 24, who was abducted from a music festival at the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, 2023, and appeared on the Hamas list, is set to be released, media reported, citing her brother’s social media.
Israel has not confirmed any of the three names provided by Hamas, and the other two families have not yet commented.
SDEROT, Israel — In the hours before the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel took effect Sunday, some Israelis gathered on a hill overlooking the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, where Israeli strikes continued for several hours after a delay in the truce.
Warplanes roared, helicopters thudded and drones buzzed overhead as smoke plumes rose from the rubble of northern Gaza, as seen from across the border with Israel.
Asher Pizem said he grew up next to the sounds of war in the southern Israeli city of Sderot. He welcomed the expected return of the hostages held in Gaza, calling them his “brothers and sisters.”
But the 35-year-old criticized the ceasefire-for-hostages deal that he saw as kicking the problem down the road. He said he believed that by allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza, the Israeli government is fueling the regrouping and rearming of Hamas.
“They will take the time and attack again,” he said.
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — An Israeli airstrike killed at least eight people in the Gaza Strip after the ceasefire was delayed, Palestinian medical officials said.
Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis confirmed the casualties from Sunday’s strike, which it said had occurred around two hours after the truce was supposed to take effect.
Israel said Hamas delayed the start of the truce by not naming the hostages it was supposed to release later on Sunday. Hamas publicized the names around two hours after the ceasefire had been due to begin.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Hamas militant group has named the three hostages it plans to release on Sunday, potentially clearing the way for the start of a Gaza ceasefire after a delay.
Israel had earlier said it would continue fighting in Gaza until the names were handed over in accordance with the agreement. The start of the ceasefire has been delayed by more than two hours.
There was no immediate comment from Israel after Hamas’ armed wing published the names on social media.
JERUSALEM — The party of Israel’s hard-line National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir says its Cabinet ministers submitted their resignations from the government on Sunday in opposition to the Gaza ceasefire deal.
The departure of the Jewish Power party from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government does not bring down the coalition or affect the ceasefire. But Ben-Gvir’s departure destabilizes the coalition.
JERUSALEM — An Israeli official said Sunday that the Gaza ceasefire deal is expected to go forward despite a delay over a list of hostages meant to be handed over by Hamas to Israel.
The official said the timing of the deal’s progress remained in question. But the official said mediators had provided assurances that Hamas would deliver the list.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing efforts to resolve the matter.
Israel announced Sunday the ceasefire would not come into effect as planned until Hamas hands over the list of hostages set to be freed later in the day as part of its commitments under the deal.
The delay on the first day of the ceasefire underscored the fragility of the internationally mediated deal.
— By Josef Federman
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli authorities said Sunday that forces had recovered and returned the body of a soldier killed in the 2014 Israel-Hamas war, whose remains were held by the Palestinian militant group in Gaza.
Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said a complicated operation involving elite commando forces returned the body of Oron Shaul overnight Saturday.
Shaul, 21 at the time of his death, was killed in battle in the war a decade ago. His body was snatched by Hamas and held since.
Hamas still holds the body of another soldier killed during that war, Hadar Goldin.
Both of the soldiers’ families had staged a public campaign to have the bodies returned.
The bodies were expected to be returned as part of a fragile ceasefire deal with Hamas in exchange for the hostages and bodies it holds.
Palestinians walk through the destruction by the Israeli air and ground offensive in Rafah, as a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians walk through the destruction caused by the Israeli air and ground offensive in Rafah, as a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hajjar)
Palestinians walk amongst the destruction caused by the Israeli air and ground offensive, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, in Rafah, as a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hajjar)
Relatives and friends of people killed and abducted by Hamas and taken into Gaza, react as they gather in Tel Aviv, Israel on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Palestinians walk amongst the destruction caused by the Israeli air and ground offensive, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, in Rafah, as a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hajjar)
Relatives and friends of people killed and abducted by Hamas and taken into Gaza, react to the news of the hostages' release, as they gather in Tel Aviv, Israel on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Displaced Palestinians return to Rafah, as a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect, in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Mariam Dagga)
Displaced Palestinians, some armed, return to Rafah, as a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect, in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Mariam Dagga)
Displaced Palestinians wave the Palestinian flag as they return to Rafah, while a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect, in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Mariam Dagga)
A display of yellow chairs representing hostages held in the Gaza Strip, and a banner reading "now!" in Hebrew, are seen in Tel Aviv, Israel, on the first day of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, as three hostages are set to be released from captivity, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
A woman reacts as people gather in Tel Aviv, Israel, on the first day of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, where three hostages are set to be released from captivity in the Gaza Strip, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Displaced Palestinians flash V-sign as they return to Rafah, while a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect, in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Mariam Dagga)
An Israeli soldier walks past a graffiti, calling for the return of the hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7 , 2023 Hamas cross-border attacks in Israel, in Kfar Saba, Israel, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Truck drivers of humanitarian aids wait at Baloza check point, on their way to cross the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip , Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Displaced Palestinians leave parts of Khan Younis as they go back to their homes in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Displaced Palestinians leave parts of Khan Younis as they go back to their homes in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
Displaced Palestinians leave parts of Khan Younis as they go back to their homes in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Displaced Palestinians leave parts of Khan Younis as they go back to their homes in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Demonstrators hold portraits of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip as a video featuring Kfir Bibas, who, along with his parents Shiri and Yarden Bibas, and his brother Ariel, is still being held hostage in Gaza, plays behind them during a protest in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday Jan. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Demonstrators hold portraits of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip during a protest calling for their immediate release in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday Jan. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Balloons are released to mark the second birthday of hostage Kfir Bibas as demonstrators hold portraits of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip during a protest calling for their immediate release in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday Jan. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Relatives and friends of people killed and abducted by Hamas and taken into Gaza, gather calling for their released in Tel Aviv, Israel on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Relatives and friends of people killed and abducted by Hamas and taken into Gaza, gather calling for their released in Tel Aviv, Israel on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Demonstrators hold torches as they gather during a protest calling for the release of all hostages held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Israel on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Demonstrators light flares as they gather during a protest calling for the release of all hostages held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Israel on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
