The first three Israeli hostages were released from Gaza on Sunday under a ceasefire agreement that includes the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
WHO IS BEING RELEASED ON SUNDAY?
The Israeli prime minister’s office identified three women as the first hostages released: Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari.
The military confirmed that they had arrived in Israeli territory on Sunday. An Israeli official told Reuters that the Red Cross said they were in good health.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners would be released from Israeli detention. Hamas said the first group to be released included 69 women and 21 teenagers.
The prisoners to be released on the first day of the ceasefire would not include any prominent detainees, and many were recently detained and have not been tried or convicted.
WHO WILL BE RELEASED IN THE FIRST PHASE?
The ceasefire agreement calls for 33 of the 98 Israeli and foreign hostages held in Gaza to be released in a first six-week phase, in exchange for thousands of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
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The 33 include women, children, men over 50 and sick and injured prisoners. Israel believes most of the 98 hostages are still alive, but has not received any confirmation from Hamas.
In return, Israel will release nearly 2,000 Palestinians from its prisons.
They include 737 male, female and teenage prisoners, some of whom are members of militant groups convicted of attacks that killed dozens of Israelis, as well as 1,167 Palestinians detained in Gaza since the start of the war and held in Israel.
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Israel’s Justice Ministry published the details on Saturday along with the ceasefire agreement, which said 30 Palestinian prisoners would be released for every female hostage on Sunday.
During the first phase of the ceasefire, the Israeli army will withdraw from some positions in Gaza and Palestinians displaced from areas in northern Gaza will be allowed to return.
A second phase, with the exchange of the remaining hostages and the completion of the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, is expected to follow, depending on the results of the negotiations.
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WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN THE HOSTAGES AND PRISONERS ARE RELEASED?
The hostages will be handed over by Hamas to Red Cross officials, who will take them to the Israeli military in Gaza. The military has established three locations near the northern, central and southern borders of Gaza, in Erez, Re’im and Kerem Shalom, to take care of the hostages, depending on the route they take.
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, buses awaited the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli detention.
