Dramatic day ushers in a fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire, ending 15 months of war

Following a 15-month war sparked by Hamas's attack on Israel, the Gaza Strip, which has endured extensive Israeli bombardment, finally saw a ceasefire agreement reached on Sunday. This agreement facilitated the release of three female hostages from Gaza in exchange for Israel freeing 90 Palestinian prisoners.

The ceasefire agreement nearly collapsed within its initial two hours on Sunday morning. Hamas failed to provide the names of the three hostages scheduled for release, causing Israel to delay the ceasefire and continue airstrikes on Gaza. According to the Hamas-controlled civil defense agency, at least 19 Palestinians were killed and 36 others injured in airstrikes within hours of the originally scheduled ceasefire. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated they had struck "multiple terror targets."

Ultimately, Hamas sent the names of the three hostages to Israel through intermediaries. Subsequently, Israel halted its military operations in Gaza for the first time since a brief ceasefire and hostage exchange in November 2023. Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari posted on X that all obstacles had been cleared and that "the ceasefire has begun," with Qatar playing a significant role in brokering the agreement.

Six hours later, three Israeli hostages—Romi Gonen, 24, Doron Steinbrecher, 31, and Emily Damari, 28, who holds dual British nationality—were transferred by Hamas in Gaza to the Red Cross, and then to the Israeli military. Television footage showed crowds gathering around the vehicles transporting the hostages in Gaza City's Saraya Square, with Hamas militants struggling to hold back the crowd. The three female hostages made brief appearances as they were led from the vans, before being taken by the IDF to the Re'im military base in southern Israel to reunite with their mothers.

The IDF had planned extensively for the complex hostage transfer, with military medics and psychologists on standby at the reception center to help the hostages with their transition. From the Re'im base, they were airlifted to Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv to be reunited with their families and receive further medical care. Two of them reportedly suffered gunshot wounds in the October 7, 2023, attack, when Hamas killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. This release is the first of several planned over the next six weeks that, if the ceasefire holds, will see a total of 33 hostages released in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners.

In Gaza, health authorities have stated that the Israeli offensive has led to more than 46,900 deaths, and most of the territory's pre-war population of 2.3 million people have been displaced. Many civilians eager to return home learned over the weekend that their long wait would continue. The IDF warned civilians not to approach the buffer zone it has established along Gaza's borders, nor the military zone in central Gaza, the Netzarim Corridor, which divides the territory's north and south. It is expected to take a week for some of those displaced in the south to be able to cross the corridor to return to their homes in the north.

For civilians in Gaza who have spent 15 months in tents and makeshift shelters, suffering from malnutrition and disease, the relief of long-awaited peace is tempered by the vast destruction and loss. "God is my witness, the feelings are mixed," said Helen Jabri, 41, speaking by phone from a shelter in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. "Our hearts ache for those we have lost," she said. "My brother and his whole family are gone. My father is a prisoner. We are happy that the bloodshed has stopped, but every family is in pain."

Some began packing their belongings and moving on foot around Gaza on Sunday, particularly in the southernmost areas, including Rafah. However, it will take much longer for the large numbers of displaced people to regain any sense of home or normality. The north of the territory, including Gaza City, has suffered almost complete destruction during the war. A UN satellite agency estimates that 60% of buildings across Gaza have been damaged by Israeli strikes and demolitions, meaning that many of the displaced will have to remain in shelters or continue sleeping rough for the time being, prolonging the massive humanitarian crisis.

"The vast majority of shelters are overcrowded, and many people are just living out in the open or in makeshift structures," said Juliette Touma, director of communications at the UN Palestinian refugee agency, Unrwa. "They lack basic needs like warm clothes. I wouldn't call these living conditions, they are not fit for human habitation." Nura Zakout, an education ministry worker from Gaza City, told the BBC from a shelter in Khan Younis on Sunday that she would return to Gaza City at the first opportunity "no matter how bad the destruction and the rubble is."

"I just want to go to the city and breathe its air," she said. "We know that we don't have homes to return to, but at least now there is a ceasefire, we can take a breath. Like a diver who has gone underwater, we have come to the surface to breathe air." In Israel, the finalization of the first part of the deal has brought relief to three families who have been held captive for 15 months. Video footage released late on Sunday showed tearful reunions with loved ones at a medical center near Tel Aviv.

Mandy Damari said in a statement that her daughter’s “nightmare in Gaza is over,” and thanked “all those who never stopped fighting for Emily.” For others, it has brought a prolongation of uncertainty. The first phase will see 33 hostages released, but their condition is unclear, and some are reportedly dead. Among those who remain are just two children—two-year-old and four-year-old brothers Kfir and Ariel Bibas. The brothers were kidnapped with their parents, Shiri and Yarden, by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Hamas announced in December 2023 that Shiri and the boys had been killed, but Israeli authorities have never confirmed the deaths.

“I am afraid to hope,” said Elon Keshet, Yarden’s cousin, on Saturday night, which was Kfir’s second birthday. “I am not allowing myself to really imagine, because when I start imagining, I feel my stomach churning,” he said. He said it would be “a miracle” to see Shiri and the boys alive. Daniel Lifshitz’s grandfather, Oded, is the second-oldest hostage, at 84, and he said on Sunday that “it’s great to see the ceasefire starting.”

“We are getting closer to the day we see my grandfather,” he said. “But at the same time, today is very, very difficult, because we don’t know if he is alive or dead. We don’t know if we are preparing for a funeral or a celebration.” In exchange for the three hostages released on Sunday, the Israeli prison authority released 90 Palestinians from the Ofer detention center in the occupied West Bank in the early hours of Monday. They too were transferred to the Red Cross, and then taken to designated areas where they would be allowed to return home. In the nearby West Bank town of Beitunia, crowds gathered to await the prisoners, with some starting fires and setting up roadblocks.

For families in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank, there is still great concern that the fragile ceasefire agreement could collapse within the next six weeks. The delays on Sunday morning were quickly overcome, but a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that Israel “reserves the right to continue its war aims in Gaza” if the terms of the agreement are broken again. Several far-right ministers in Israel resigned on Sunday in protest at the terms of the deal, further weakening Netanyahu's already fragile grip on government.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, the most prominent critic of the agreement, has long opposed a ceasefire, arguing that it came before Israel had achieved its main war aim of destroying Hamas in the Gaza Strip. He announced on Sunday that his far-right Jewish Power party would collectively withdraw from the government. Although he pledged not to try to bring down the government, the move leaves the embattled prime minister with only a wafer-thin majority in parliament. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said at a press conference on Sunday that he would not condemn those who opposed the deal, which he said came at a “heavy price” for Israel.

“Any deal with a terror organization is a bad deal,” he said. “Releasing terrorists from our prisons is a heavy price and there is a risk.” Sa’ar acknowledged that there had been “very intense debates” within the government about the terms of the deal. “But we did it because of our commitment to those brothers and sisters who have been held captive for more than 15 months. We will do everything we can to bring them home.” The BBC understands that under the deal with Israel, checkpoints in Gaza previously controlled by the Israeli military will be handed over to Hamas police, who will manage the flow of displaced people heading north, while Israel withdraws. The arrangement has raised questions about how militants will be prevented from also moving north, and there are concerns that chaos could ensue as large numbers of people move and attempt to access aid in the area.

Aid trucks began entering Gaza 15 minutes after the ceasefire came into effect. However, the scale of need is immense. Even before the conflict, Gaza was heavily reliant on aid. With farmland and food infrastructure destroyed, Unrwa says that 600 trucks a day should be entering Gaza. Majed al-Ansari, the Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman, told the BBC that a dedicated operations center in Cairo would monitor the ceasefire from abroad to ensure that "chaos is minimized as aid enters." But he added that, in the first phase, Hamas would largely be in charge of the process in Gaza.

Ansari called the agreement "a last chance for Gaza, and a last chance for the region." "It is a deal of hope, it is a deal of the future, it is a deal for all of us," he said. US President-elect Donald Trump posted on his social media site, Truth Social, welcoming the ceasefire, with his envoy Steve Witkoff helping to broker the deal alongside President Joe Biden's team. "Hostages are starting to come out today! Three great young women will be the first," he wrote.

In Gaza City, Abdullah Shabir, a young emergency doctor who has been working tirelessly since the start of the war, seeing hundreds die and treating thousands of wounded, allowed himself a moment of joy on Sunday evening. "It is because these people are my countrymen that I have been able to keep going," he said. "I don't know how to express what I feel now, but there is joy. The most important thing is that the bloodshed has stopped. God willing, everything else will follow."