For the first time in months, there is hope and joy in Israel and Gaza

For the first time in 471 days, Palestinian doctors in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip did not report a single death from Israeli military action on Monday, amid a tense situation. ceasefire between Hamas and Israel settled in its place. CBS Information crews in Israel, Gaza and the occupied West Bank saw more joy – or at least relief – than had been on residents’ faces for 15 months.

The ceasefire came into effect on Sunday after an initial three-hour delay, during which nearly 20 more Palestinians were killed, according to doctors in the decimated Palestinian territory.

Under the terms of the agreement, which the United States helped negotiate along with Qatar and Egypt, three Israeli hostages They were freed by Hamas on Sunday after the fighting stopped. Shortly after midnight local time, 90 Palestinian prisoners were released from an Israeli prison in the occupied West Bank.

After more than a year of devastating war sparked by the brutal Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, in which militants killed some 1,200 people and kidnapped another 251, the people of Gaza heard the sound of children playing on Monday instead of the thunder of the combatants. planes and airstrikes, observed Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, in a statement posted on social media.

“Our teams reported a good first day of ceasefire,” he said, adding that aid and some commercial supplies had begun flowing smoothly into Gaza on Sunday. Along with the reciprocal release of hostages and prisoners, that is the other important component of the ceasefire agreement. At least 600 aid trucks a day are supposed to enter Gaza, carrying everything from desperately needed food and medicine to fuel for generators.

“The ceasefire must continue to hold and all elements of the agreement must be implemented,” Lazzarini said. “It is a step in the right direction towards lasting peace and stability for all.”

Palestinians eager to return to their destroyed homes in Gaza

The reconstruction of Gaza will be an incredibly long and expensive process, and is only scheduled to begin in earnest during the third and final phase of the ceasefire agreement in three phaseswhich, assuming the deal remains intact, could take several months. Still, the Hamas-run Gaza City municipality said in a statement Monday that they began clearing at least the main roads, which had been closed during the war.

That will help tens of thousands of displaced civilians return to their towns and villages across the enclave, to assess the damage done to their homes and try to make use of whatever they can salvage from the ruins.

Thousands of families have begun walking or dragging carts from the displaced persons camps in Gaza City towards the devastated towns and cities of Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip.

They have also returned to the southern city of Rafah, where the CBS Information team spoke with a girl wearing a dress printed with the Palestinian flag.

“This is the moment that all Gazans have been waiting for,” he said. “Thank God, the war is over… It’s time to celebrate after enduring the pain. It’s time to rebuild after all the destruction. “The children of Gaza are drawing a new future.”

Civil Defense rescue teams have continued to recover the decomposing bodies of dozens of people killed during the war, both from beneath the rubble of destroyed buildings and from the streets. The Civil Defense has estimated that some 10,000 bodies could still be buried under the rubble of demolished houses in Gaza.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said on Monday that hospitals across the enclave had received the bodies of 122 people recovered since the ceasefire went into effect, including 62 recovered from the rubble, raising the total number. of deaths in Gaza since the war began to 47,035. The ministry does not distinguish between combatant and civilian casualties, but says the vast majority of those killed have been civilians, including tens of thousands of women and children.

Joyful reunions for three Israeli families, hope for dozens more

A Red Cross convoy that arrived in Gaza City on Sunday was the first sign that Hamas was holding up its end of the deal. But the hostage delivery was chaotic; Heavily armed Hamas fighters surrounded and climbed onto the vehicles, a clear show of strength and resistance after more than a year of war against Israel’s vastly superior army.

But soon the world and desperate families at home got their first glimpse of the three women being freed as they ran between cars and toward freedom.

Held hostage out of fear for 15 months by Hamas, Romi Gonen, 24, Doron Steinbrecher, 31, and Emily Damari, 28, were finally on their way back to the eager arms of their loved ones. The three women, including Damari, an Israeli-British citizen who lost two fingers during the October 7 attack when she was kidnapped, were reunited with their mothers as soon as they arrived in Israel.

“Yesterday I was finally able to give Emily the hug she had been dreaming of,” Damari’s mother Mandy said in a statement released Monday. “I am relieved to report that following her release, Emily is doing much better than any of us could have anticipated… In Emily’s own words, she is the happiest girl in the world; “He has recovered his life.”

Even in her moment of intense joy, Mandy Damari emphasized that other families were still waiting to share in the euphoria.

“We must also remember that there are still 94 hostages,” he said. “The ceasefire must continue and every last hostage must be returned to their families.”

Hundreds of Israelis watching from Hostage Square in Tel Aviv also shared in Sunday night’s joy, including some whose loved ones did not make it out of Hamas captivity, or have not yet done so.

Gil Dickmann’s cousin, Carmel Gat, was among those kidnapped. His body was recovered during an Israeli military operation at the beginning of September. Still, Dickmann has regularly attended demonstrations in Hostage Sq. calling for the return of dozens more people. He told CBS Information that when he saw the women get out of the vehicles on Sunday, he had a hard time even believing it.

“My God, it’s them,” he said he had told himself. “All people around the world should have this joy: seeing people return home alive. It is still the happiest thing you can ever experience.”

Celebrations in the West Bank for the release of Palestinian prisoners

There was also jubilation and celebration in the Israeli-occupied West Bank late Sunday night, when 90 Palestinian detainees, mostly women, were freed in exchange for the freed hostages.

“They treated us like animals,” said Rose Quis, 18.

“I left hell and now I am in heaven,” Abdelaziz Atawneh said as he left Israel’s Ofer prison, outside the West Bank city of Ramallah.

The released detainees were greeted with fireworks, whistles and shouts of “God is great,” and many were carried on the shoulders of the huge crowd that had gathered outside the prison, many of them waiting all day for their release.

According to a list provided by the Palestinian Authority, which administers the West Bank, all those released in the early hours of Monday were women or teenagers, the youngest just 15 years old. They were imprisoned by Israel, many of them without formal charges. for alleged crimes ranging from stone throwing to attempted murder.

The next hostage-for-prisoner exchange is scheduled to take place on Saturday under the ceasefire agreement, and four hostages will be freed in exchange for about 120 Palestinian prisoners. In total, 33 Israeli hostages will be freed during the first six-week phase of the agreement.

Steve Berriman and

Khaled Wassef

contributed to this report.