(Reuters) – The first three Israeli hostages were released from the Gaza Strip on Sunday under a ceasefire agreement that includes the release of hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Who will be released on Sunday?
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office identified three women as the first hostages to be released: Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari. The army confirmed that they arrived in Israeli territory on Sunday. An Israeli official told Reuters that the Red Cross said they were in good health.
In return, 90 Palestinian prisoners will be released from Israeli prisons. Hamas said that the first group that was released included 69 women and 21 boys.
The prisoners to be released on the first day of the ceasefire will not include any high-profile detainees, many of whom were recently arrested and have not been tried or convicted.
Who will be released in the first phase?
The ceasefire agreement stipulates the release of 33 of the 98 Israeli and foreign hostages detained in Gaza during a first phase of six weeks, in exchange for the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli prisons.
The 33 victims included women, children, men over 50 years old, and sick and wounded prisoners. Israel believes that most of the 98 hostages are still alive but has not received any confirmation from Hamas.
In return, Israel will release approximately 2,000 Palestinians from its prisons.
They include 737 male and female prisoners and teenagers, some of whom are members of armed groups convicted of attacks that killed dozens of Israelis, as well as 1,167 Palestinians detained in Gaza since the beginning of the war and detained in Israel.
The Israeli Ministry of Justice published its details on Saturday, along with the ceasefire agreement, which stipulated the release of 30 Palestinian prisoners for every hostage on Sunday.
During the first phase of the ceasefire, the Israeli army will withdraw from some locations in Gaza and allow Palestinians displaced from areas of northern Gaza to return.
A second phase is expected to follow, including the exchange of the remaining hostages and the completion of the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, depending on the outcome of the negotiations.
What will happen when the hostages and prisoners are released?
Hamas is scheduled to hand over the hostages to Red Cross officials who will take them to the Israeli army in Gaza. The army has set up three sites near the northern, central and southern edges of the Gaza Strip in Erez, Ra'im and Kerem Shalom to take charge of the hostages, depending on the route they take.
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, buses were waiting for Palestinian prisoners to be released from Israeli prisons.
