For the first time in 471 days, Palestinian medics in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip didn’t report a single death from Israeli military action on Monday, as a tense ceasefire between Hamas and Israel settled into place. CBS News teams in Israel, Gaza and in the occupied West Bank saw more joy — or at least relief — than had been painted on the faces of residents for 15 months.
The ceasefire came into effect Sunday after an initial three-hour delay, during which almost 20 more Palestinians were killed, according to medics in the decimated Palestinian territory.
Under the terms of the deal, which the U.S. helped broker along with Qatar and Egypt, three Israeli hostages were released by Hamas on Sunday after the fighting stopped. Just after midnight local time, 90 Palestinian prisoners were freed from an Israeli prison in the occupied West Bank.
After more than a year of devastating war sparked by Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack, which saw militants kill some 1,200 people and kidnap 251 others, the people of Gaza heard the sound of children playing Monday instead of the thunder of fighter jets and airstrikes, observed Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations’ agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, in a statement posted on social media.
“Our teams reported a good first day of the ceasefire,” he said, adding that aid and some commercial supplies had started flowing smoothly into Gaza on Sunday. Along with the reciprocal release of hostages and prisoners, that is the other major component of the ceasefire deal. At least 600 aid trucks per 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,” said Lazzarini. “It is a step in the right direction towards long-lasting peace and stability for all.”
Palestinians eager to return to obliterated homes in Gaza
Reconstructing Gaza will be an incredibly long and costly process, and it is only provisioned to begin in earnest during the third and final phase of the three-phase ceasefire agreement, which, assuming the deal remains in-tact, could be several months away. Still, the Hamas-run Gaza City Municipality said in a statement Monday that it started to at least clear the main roads, which had been closed during the war.
That will help as tens of thousands of displaced civilians plod back toward their towns and villages across the enclave, to assess the damage caused to their homes, and attempt to make use of whatever they can salvage from the ruins.
Hatem Khaled/REUTERS
Thousands of families have started walking or dragging carts from displacement camps in Gaza City toward the razed towns and cities of Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip.
They have also been returning to the southern city of Rafah, where CBS News’ team spoke with one girl wearing a dress in the pattern of the Palestinian flag.
“This is the moment that all of Gaza’s citizens were waiting for,” she said. “Thank God the war has ended… It is time to celebrate after enduring the pain. It is time to reconstruct after all of the destruction. Gaza’s children are drawing a new future.”
Civil Defense rescue teams have continued recovering the decomposing bodies of dozens of people killed during the war, both from underneath 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 homes in Gaza.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Monday that hospitals across the enclave had received the bodies of 122 people recovered since the ceasefire took effect alone, including 62 pulled from rubble, raising the total number of fatalities 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.
Joyous reunions for 3 Israeli families, hope for dozens more
A Red Cross convoy driving into Gaza City on Sunday was the first sign that Hamas was keeping its end of the bargain. But the hostage handover was chaotic; heavily armed Hamas fighters surrounded and climbed over the vehicles — a clear display of force and resilience after more than a year of war against Israel’s vastly superior military.
But soon the world and the desperate families back home got a first glimpse of the three women being released as they bolted between cars, and to freedom.
AFP/Getty
Held hostage in fear for 15 months by Hamas, 24-year-old Romi Gonen, 31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher and 28-year-old Emily Damari were finally on their way to being back in the eager arms of their loved ones. The three women — including Damari, an Israeli-British national who lost two fingers during the Oct. 7 attack when she was abducted — were all reunited with their mothers as soon as they reached Israel.
“Yesterday, I was finally able to give Emily the hug that I have been dreaming of,” Damari’s mother Mandy said in a statement released Monday. “I am relieved to report that after her release, Emily is doing much better than any of us could ever have anticipated… In Emily’s own words, she is the happiest girl in the world; she has her life back.”
ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES/Handout
Even in her moment of intense joy, Mandy Damari stressed that other families were still waiting to share in the elation.
“We must also remember that 94 other hostages still remain,” she 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 the joy Sunday night — including some whose own loved ones didn’t make it out of Hamas captivity — or haven’t yet.
Gil Dickmann’s cousin Carmel Gat was among those kidnapped. Her body was recovered during an Israeli military operation at the beginning of September. Still, Dickmann has regularly attended the demonstrations in Hostage Square calling for the return of the dozens of others. He told CBS News that when he saw the women emerge from the vehicles on Sunday, he struggled to even believe it.
“My God, it’s them,” he said he’d told himself. “All the people around the world should have this joy – of people coming back home alive. It is still the happiest thing that you can ever, ever live through.”
Celebrations in the West Bank as Palestinian prisoners released
There was elation and celebrations in the Israeli occupied West Bank late on Sunday night, too, as 90 Palestinian detainees, mostly women, were released in exchange for the freed hostages.
“They were treating us like animals,” said 18-year-old Rose Quis.
“I left hell, and now I’m in heaven,” said Abdelaziz Atawneh as he emerged from Israel’s Ofer prison, just outside the West Bank city of Ramallah.
The freed detainees were greeted by fireworks, whistling and shouts of “God is great,” and many were hoisted onto the shoulders of the massive crowds that had gathered outside the prison — many of them waiting all day for the release.
MUSSA ISSA QAWASMA/REUTERS
According to a list provided by the Palestinian Authority, which administers the West Bank, all of those released in the very early hours of Monday were women or teenagers, the youngest just 15. They were jailed by Israel, many of them without formal charges, for alleged offenses ranging from throwing stones to attempted murder.
The next swap of hostages for prisoners is scheduled to take place on Saturday under the ceasefire deal, with four hostages to be released in exchange for about 120 Palestinian prisoners. In total, 33 Israeli hostages are to be released during the first six-week phase of the agreement.
and
contributed to this report.