Three Israeli hostages freed in Gaza, Biden welcomes 'weakening' of Hezbollah | LIVE

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The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) said on Sunday it was working to provide food to as many Gazans as possible after crossings reopened under the truce.

"We are trying to reach a million people as soon as possible," Carl Skau, WFP's deputy executive director, told AFP as trucks from the Rome-based U.N. agency began entering the Gaza Strip.

The three Israeli hostages released on Sunday by Hamas as part of the ceasefire agreement arrived at Sheba Hospital in Ramat Gan (center) by helicopter, an AFP journalist noted.

The Israeli army, which announced their return to the country, confirmed in a statement that the "three freed hostages landed at the hospital with their mothers, where they will be reunited with the rest of their family and receive medical care."

The World Health Organization said that it stands ready to immediately increase aid to Gaza on the condition that access is guaranteed to the entire Palestinian population throughout the territory, whose health infrastructure has been largely destroyed or damaged.

"It is essential that security obstacles that hamper operations are removed" and the WHO "will need conditions on the ground that allow systematic access to the population of Gaza, the flow of aid through all possible borders and routes and the lifting of restrictions on the entry of essential products," the organization stressed in a statement.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed the "fantastic" news of the release of three Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, including British-Israeli national Emily Damari, and called for the cease-fire deal to be "fully implemented."

"The release of the three hostages today (Sunday) is fantastic and long-awaited after months of torment for them and their families," he said, adding that today remains "another day of suffering for those who have not yet returned home."

He called for the cease-fire agreement, including the release of the other hostages and increased humanitarian aid to Gaza, to be "fully implemented and on schedule."

Hamas "will never rule Gaza again," Donald Trump's future national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said in an interview with CNN on Sunday.

"It can no longer be a terrorist organization and it will never again govern in Gaza," according to the current Republican elected to the House of Representatives from Florida.

European Council President Antonio Costa said he was "relieved" on Sunday after the release of the first Israeli hostages and considered that the implementation of the ceasefire in Gaza represented a "ray of hope."

"Relieved to finally see the first hostages released and humanitarian aid flowing in as the cease-fire takes effect in Gaza," he wrote on the social network X. "The agreement brings a glimmer of hope to the region. All parties must stick to it. Peace is the only possible path."

French President Emmanuel Macron stressed Saturday, during a telephone conversation with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, the importance of "being able to restore Palestinian governance in Gaza, fully involving the Palestinian Authority," the Elysée Palace said Sunday.

Macron also argued that "the future of the Gaza Strip must be part of that of a future Palestinian state and that it was necessary to ensure in doing so that no massacre, such as that committed on Oct. 7, could ever happen again against the Israeli people," added the French presidency on the first day of the cease-fire between Hamas and Israel. 

Three Israeli hostages released from the Gaza Strip by Hamas as part of a cease-fire deal met their mothers in Israel, the Israeli military said.

The three freed hostages "arrived at the reception point" near Gaza and were "reunited with their mothers," a military statement said, while the army's X account published a photo of Emily Damari, one of the three former hostages, posing with her mother. The young Israeli-British woman, her hand bandaged, smiles alongside her mother Mandy Damari.

"Seeing the hostages reunited with their families fills our hearts with hope," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after the release of the first three Israeli hostages, welcoming the cease-fire in Gaza that Europe "will support."

"Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher are free. Others must follow. Let this be the beginning of a new chapter for Israel and the Palestinian people," she hoped in a message on the social network X. "The ceasefire must be respected."

"Emily's nightmare in Gaza is over," said Mandy Damari, the mother of the British-Israeli hostage freed along with two other Israeli hostages on Sunday, the first day of the truce between Hamas and Israel.

"After 471 days, Emily is finally home," Damari said in a statement sent to AFP, thanking "all those who continued to fight for Emily during this terrible ordeal."

Emily Damari, 28, was abducted by Hamas fighters in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on Oct. 7, 2023. She was the only British national still being held by the Palestinian Islamist movement.

She was released on Sunday alongside Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the three hostages released by Hamas as part of the cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip "have been through hell," according to a statement from his office.

In a telephone interview with Gal Hirsh, who is in charge of the hostage file in his office, Netanyahu said the three young women had "gone through hell," adding that they were coming "from darkness into light, from slavery into freedom."

The next release of Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza will take place "next Saturday," a senior Hamas official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"The release of the second group of Israeli prisoners will take place on the evening of next Saturday, the seventh day of the entry into force of the cease-fire agreement," the leader said by telephone in Doha, without specifying the number of hostages to be released that day, nor the number of Palestinian detainees that Israel would release in exchange.

Hamas's military wing warned that the implementation of the cease-fire will depend on Israel's "respect for commitments" on the first day of the truce and the agreement to exchange hostages and prisoners.

"We, along with the resistance factions, affirm our full commitment to the cease-fire agreement, while stressing that all of this remains conditioned by the enemy's commitment," Abu Obeida, spokesperson for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said in a video message. 

“The region is now fundamentally transformed. Longtime Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is dead. Hamas’s support base in the Middle East has been profoundly weakened by Israel, with the support of the United States, and one of Hamas’s greatest supporters, Hezbollah, has been weakened” in Lebanon, Biden said in a speech Sunday.

The American leader also welcomed the fact that "the United States has sealed a cease-fire in Lebanon" and that "the regime of [former President Bashar al-] Assad nearby in Syria has fallen, cutting off Iran's access to Lebanon."

Tehran, the bête noire of Israel and the United States, "is in the weakest position in decades," Biden added.

U.S. President Joe Biden called the Middle East a "profoundly transformed region" thanks to the cease-fire and hostage release agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas that came into force.

"After so much pain, destruction, loss of life, the guns fell silent today in Gaza," the Democratic leader said on the sidelines of a visit to South Carolina for his last full day as president before handing over to Donald Trump on Monday.

The Israeli military announced that the three hostages freed by Hamas, Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Doron Steinbrecher, were in Israeli territory.

"The freed hostages crossed the border en route to a meeting point in southern Israel," the army said in a statement.

"Emily, Doron and Romi are finally on their way home," Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an army spokesman, said on television. "This is a very emotional moment."

The Israeli army says it recovered the three hostages in the Gaza Strip.

Emmanuel Macron spoke on Saturday with the families of the two Franco-Israeli hostages Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi, who are on the list of the first hostages to be released by Hamas as part of the ceasefire, the Elysée Palace said on Sunday.

"The President of the Republic expressed "his determination to ensure the full and complete implementation of this process" of liberation, according to the presidency.

"All hostages must be released as soon as possible and the President reiterated his solidarity with the Israeli people in this regard," it added, specifying that the Head of State "is delighted that the Israeli cabinet approved the ceasefire agreement in Gaza on Jan. 17, 2025."

The Israeli military announced that the three Israeli hostages were transferred to the Red Cross and were on their way to Israeli army forces in the Gaza Strip.

"The Red Cross has communicated that the three Israeli hostages have been transferred to them and are on their way" to Israel, according to a military statement released shortly after a Hamas leader announced to AFP that the three young women had been handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza City.

The German Chancellor called for commitment "to a Palestinian state" coexisting in peace with the State of Israel after the start of the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

"We should seize this momentum to commit to a Palestinian state that can peacefully coexist with the State of Israel," Olaf Scholz said in a message on his X account. The Palestinian civilian population has "suffered enormously" in Gaza during the armed conflict and their fate "also concerns us," he added.

A Hamas leader told AFP that the three Israeli hostages were handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza City.

"The three hostages were officially handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Saraya Square, in the al-Rimal neighborhood in western Gaza City, after a member of the ICRC teams met them and checked on their condition," the official said.

According to Israeli Channel 14, 77 Palestinian detainees under the age of 18 are expected to be released in a few hours via the Beytounia border crossing in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Sunday it was essential that the cease-fire agreement in Gaza between Israel and Hamas be fully implemented and that the remaining hostages be freed, according to Reuters.

During a public meeting in Schwalbach, Scholz noted that the release of hostages held by Hamas “should serve as a catalyst for peaceful development, providing a vision where a Palestinian state can peacefully coexist with Israel.”

President-elect Trump’s incoming national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said the United States would support Israel if Hamas reneged on the cease-fire and hostage-release agreement, Reuters reported.

According to Haaretz, a crowd, including journalists and camera crews, gathered at Hostages Square, a plaza in Tel Aviv packed with film crews, as about 200 Israelis anxiously awaited the return of hostages from Gaza — the first to be freed under the cease-fire agreement.

The daily Al-Akhbar —citing a military source — reported that three people killed in an Israeli airstrike last week on Jabal Sadana, near Shebaa (Hasbaya district), were of Turkish nationality.

According to the newspaper, the Lebanese Red Cross did not recover the bodies but found traces of blood, belongings and equipment.

⚡ According to Reuters, an International Red Cross team is on its way to Gaza to recover Israeli hostages from Hamas.

U.S. President Donald Trump, set to be officially inaugurated on Monday, reacted on his Truth Social network to the cease-fire agreement reached Sunday between Israel and Hamas: “The hostages are starting to be released today! Three wonderful young women will be the first,” he wrote.

Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi told soldiers during a visit to the Beit Hanoun area of Gaza that Israel would not have agreed to a deal under these terms if Hamas were not in such a “difficult” position.

“We are very determined in our dealings with Hamas to achieve the conditions we want, and we will remain determined in the future,” he said, according to the Israeli military’s website.

“We are proud to have stepped back to extend a hand in bringing home dozens of living hostages, and we will also be proud and determined to resume fighting in the future,” Halevi added.

Israel’s prison authority has received the list of Palestinian prisoners held in various prisons who are to be exchanged for Hamas hostages in Gaza under the cease-fire, according to a statement reported by the Times of Israel.

The authority has yet to release the names of the 90 prisoners involved.

The Syrian Social Nationalist Party, active in Lebanon, praised “the heroism of the resistance fighters in Gaza, the legendary resistance in the strip and the West Bank, and the patience of the people who have endured one year and three months of brutal aggression” by the Israelis, according to a statement.

The party accused Israel of creating “a new school of criminality and violations of all international laws and norms.”

The first humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza within minutes of the start of the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, a U.N. official for the Palestinian territories announced on X.

The U.N. did not specify which of the few crossings between Gaza and Israel or Egypt had served as transit for the trucks, but according to an Egyptian official, “197 aid trucks and 5 fuel trucks entered through the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza and the al-Oga” and Nitzana crossings on the border between Egypt and Israel.

The British government has welcomed the inclusion of British-Israeli Emily Damari on the list of the first three hostages to be released on Sunday on the first day of the cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, and urged both sides to “fully implement” the cease-fire agreement.

“The British Government welcomes reports that British national Emily Damari is on the list of hostages to be released by Hamas today. We stand ready to support her as soon as she is released,” said the Foreign Office in a statement, which "urges" Israel and Hamas "to fully implement all phases of the agreement and to make the release of all hostages a reality."

In South Lebanon, our correspondent reported that Israeli soldiers fired machine guns at houses on the outskirts of Houla (Marjayoun district).

According to local residents, the farmers who were in the areas where the Israeli army made its incursion earlier today were questioned and then released.

“World Food Program trucks have begun entering the Gaza Strip through the Zikim and Kerem Shalom crossings,” the organization announced on X.

“The first trucks are carrying wheat flour and ready-to-eat food parcels for people in desperate need,” it added, before concluding, ”This cease-fire is essential for the humanitarian response, security and access must be guaranteed.”

Gaza's Ministry of Health has announced a death toll of 46,913 since the start of the war in Gaza, according to AFP.

Hamas said it was expecting a list of 90 prisoners to be released by Israel today as part of the cease-fire agreement, according to a statement.

Pope Francis called Sunday for “immediate respect” for the cease-fire in Gaza, urging more humanitarian aid and the return of hostages.

“I hope... that it [the cease-fire] will be respected immediately by the parties,” said the Pope at the end of the Angelus prayer, adding that he was "grateful to the mediators."

The Israeli army announced that hostages to be released by Hamas will be handed over "by the Red Cross" to "specialized units" in Gaza, which will transfer them to reception points in Israeli territory, Haaretz reported.

The Forum of Families in Israel confirmed the names of three female hostages who will be released Sunday, AFP reported.

The Lebanese Army announced on X that one of its soldiers was moderately injured Sunday by a landmine explosion near a border post formerly occupied by Palestinian factions in the Bekaa Valley, which it retook in late 2024 following the fall of Bashar Assad's regime, overthrown on Dec. 8 by a coalition led by the Islamist group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

"On Jan. 19, 2025, a Lebanese Army soldier was moderately injured by a landmine explosion near one of the posts the army received from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC) in the locality of Qousaya, in the district of Zahle. The injured soldier was transferred to a hospital for treatment and is in stable condition," the army said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar warned Sunday of the "continued regional instability" if Hamas remains in power in Gaza, shortly after the cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement went into effect.

"If Hamas remains in power, the regional instability it causes is likely to persist. There is no future of peace, stability, or security for both sides if Hamas remains in power in Gaza," Saar said at a press conference in Jerusalem.

Thailand welcomed the cease-fire and hostage agreement in Gaza in a message from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs on X.

The country "congratulates Qatar, Egypt and the United States of America for their central role and continued mediation efforts between the conflicting parties toward a positive conclusion of the agreement."

"Thailand calls on all parties to fully implement the agreement, as well as to secure the immediate release of all remaining hostages, including Thai nationals," the ministry added. Eight Thai citizens are reportedly still held hostage, according to figures cited by several Israeli media outlets.

An Israeli drone flew at low altitude over southern Lebanon, including the villages of Mansouri, Majdel Zoun, and others in the district of Sour.

Israeli warplanes also flew over other areas in southern Lebanon, according to our correspondent in the region.

According to the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, "4,000 aid trucks are ready to enter Gaza, half of them carrying food and flour."

Thousands of Palestinians displaced by the war began returning home Sunday in Gaza after the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas went into effect, AFP journalists reported.

By midday, thousands of people were arriving in Jabalia from Gaza City, in the northern part of the Palestinian territory. Other movements of returning residents were observed in the areas of Rafah and Khan Younis (south), according to eyewitness accounts collected by phone.

Israeli soldiers entered the village of Ain Arab, district of Hasbaya, reports our correspondent. Several farmers were in their fields in the village at the time of the incursion.

Aid trucks will enter the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing, according to Israel's Channel 1, quoted by Lebanese media.

Israel says Gaza cease-fire to come into effect at 9:15 a.m. GMT, according to AFP.

The Hamas movement's head of political and media relations in Lebanon, Abdel Majid al-Awad, said in a statement that “the cease-fire agreement in Gaza marks a milestone in the history of the Palestinian people's struggle and a great proof of victory and strength,” in a statement relayed by the state-run National News Agency (NNA).

“The Zionist occupation, after losing its prestige [during the offensive of Oct. 7, 2023], has not been able to regain it despite a genocidal war supported by all the forces of evil in the world, underlining that the resistance and our Palestinian people have failed the plans and objectives of the occupation to break the resistance and put an end to the brilliance of the cause,” the official further launched.

In southern Lebanon, an Israeli bulldozer carried out a “hostile maneuver” this morning in the vicinity of the “Bab al-Thanieh” area, in the eastern Marjayoun plain, reports the National News Agency.

According to our correspondent in South Lebanon, the Israeli army is believed to have withdrawn from this area. However, it is still positioned on Hamames hill and south of Khiam.

Drones are flying over Saida and Palestinian camps in the South.

The spokesman for the armed wing of Hamas, Abu Obeida, said in a statement that the Palestinian movement will release hostages Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher today, according to several media outlets.

The families of the hostages who will be released on Sunday have been notified, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, quoted by Haaretz.

The Minister of National Security and member of the Israeli far right, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has resigned from the government as he had promised to do in the event of a truce agreement being reached between Israel and Hamas, according to Haaretz.

The Media Office of Gaza's government said that "ministries and government institutions are ready to start working."

"Thousands of police officers will be deployed according to the government's plan to maintain security and order in the Gaza Strip," the media office added.

Rocket sirens have sounded in the southern Israeli Gaza border community of Netiv Ha'asara, according to Haaretz.

The Israeli army later said that the sirens were a false alarm.

This is the second reported false alarm today.

⚡ Israel's Channel 12, citing senior sources, claims that Israel has received a list of the three female prisoners who are expected to be released today.

According to Gaza's Civil Defense, the death toll from Israeli strikes since the truce came into effect is now at least 10.

According to our correspondent in the Bekaa, the Lebanese Army is destroying unexploded rockets left over from Israeli strikes on the Bekaa, and explosions have been heard around the Taybeh firing camp in the Baalbeck district.

Gaza's Civil Defense announced eight killed following Israeli strikes, which came after the scheduled time for the truce to take effect, as well as more than 25 injuries, reports AFP.

The Israeli army's Arabic-speaking spokesman, Avichay Adraee, announced an hour after the cease-fire was meant to come into effect on X that Israeli artillery and aviation “continue to operate and attack terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip.”

According to Al Araby TV, quoted by Haaretz, the Israeli army is firing on Palestinians trying to return to their homes in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip.

Medical sources in the Gaza Strip, quoted by Reuters, said three Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike in eastern Gaza City.

The cease-fire agreement was criticized by far-right ministers in the Israeli government, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

The former, who had threatened to leave the coalition that enabled the government’s formation, is expected to follow through on his threat Sunday and resign, according to several Israeli media outlets.

The latter stated Saturday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had acceded to his demand and committed to changing the course of the war, aiming for Israel’s total control of Gaza.

"Look at Gaza — it is destroyed, uninhabitable, and it will remain so," Smotrich said in a statement. He added that he was assured no humanitarian aid would reach Hamas.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels warned Sunday that opposing forces in the Red Sea would face "consequences" for any attacks on their country during the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

The Houthis "warn enemy forces in the Red Sea of the consequences of any aggression against our country during the cease-fire period in Gaza," the rebels said in a statement and video on X, claiming they "would respond to any aggression with precise military operations against these forces without limits or red lines."

Sirens sounded in communities near the Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli army, as cited by Reuters. A little later, Haaretz reported it was a false alarm.

Although the cease-fire has not yet come into effect, spontaneous celebrations have begun in Gaza, Haaretz reports.

In Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, fireworks were set off and sweets were distributed. Many residents are preparing to return to areas where they once lived, despite the dire conditions on the ground.

Meanwhile, in the vicinity of Gaza City and central Gaza, residents reported hearing gunfire and explosions in several locations.

According to Qatar, the agreement aims to lead to a definitive end to the Gaza war.

At least 46,899 people, mostly civilians, have been killed by Israeli strikes on Gaza, according to data from Gaza’s Health Ministry deemed reliable by the U.N.

Severely weakened, Hamas, which seized power in Gaza in 2007, is still far from being annihilated, contrary to Benjamin Netanyahu’s stated objective, experts say.

Hamas has not yet provided a list of hostages, contrary to the agreement, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said, as quoted by Israeli media, including Haaretz and the Times of Israel.

"Since this morning, Hamas has failed to meet its obligations and, contrary to the agreement, has not given Israel the names of the hostages [who are to be released today]," he said.

"In line with the Prime Minister’s directive, the cease-fire will not come into effect until Hamas fulfills its obligations. The Israeli Defense Forces continue to strike Gaza as long as Hamas does not meet its commitments under the agreement," the official added.

Ahead of the initial time set for the truce to begin, the Israeli army announced Sunday that it had recovered, during a "special operation" in Gaza, the body of an Israeli soldier killed in 2014 and held by Hamas, according to AFP.

The family of Sergeant Oron Shaul was informed of the return of his remains after it was formally identified, the army said. According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, the special operation, conducted jointly with Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, took place on Saturday night.

On Sunday morning, before the cease-fire took effect, the Israeli army warned Gaza residents not to approach its soldiers or move toward the buffer zone. "At this stage, moving toward the buffer zone or traveling from the south to the north puts you in danger," the army’s Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, warned on Telegram.

According to U.S. President Joe Biden, the first phase also includes an Israeli withdrawal from densely populated areas in Gaza and an increase in humanitarian aid to the territory, which the U.N. says is on the brink of famine.

Egyptian authorities stated that the agreement allows for "600 aid trucks per day," including 50 fuel trucks.

During the first phase, the terms of the second phase will be negotiated to secure the release of the remaining hostages, followed by a third and final stage focusing on Gaza’s reconstruction and the return of the bodies of hostages who died in captivity.

Three reception points have been set up at Israel’s southern border with Gaza, at the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossings and one near Kibbutz Re’im, a military official said. Hostages released by Hamas will be met there and will be cared for by medical teams.

According to sources close to Hamas, the first group of released hostages is expected to include three Israeli women.

Israel has designated 95 Palestinian prisoners for release on Sunday, mostly women and minors, most of whom were detained after Oct. 7. Their release is expected after 2 p.m. GMT, authorities said.

Among the prisoners to be freed is Zakaria al-Zoubeidi, a leader of anti-Israeli attacks and a former local head of Fatah’s armed wing, who was arrested and imprisoned in 2019.

Two Franco-Israelis, Ofer Kalderon, 54, and Ohad Yahalomi, 50, are among the 33 hostages eligible for release, according to Paris.

Good morning, thank you for joining us for today's live coverage ahead of the cease-fire in Gaza.

The Gaza cease-fire agreement is scheduled to take effect today at 8:30 a.m. local time. However, less than an hour before the deadline, a disagreement over the list of hostages remained unresolved.

Israel warned Sunday that the truce would not begin until Hamas submitted a list of hostages to be released that day.

Hamas affirmed in a statement that it fully intended to comply with the agreement but acknowledged a delay "in providing the names of hostages to be released" due to "technical reasons on the ground."

"The Prime Minister has instructed the Israeli army that the cease-fire, set to take effect at 8:30 a.m. local time, will not begin until Israel has received the list of hostages to be released, as Hamas has committed to do," Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

The agreement, secured by mediators on Wednesday, just days before the inauguration of new U.S. President Donald Trump, has raised hopes for lasting peace despite another warning from Benjamin Netanyahu.

The latter warned that it was "a provisional cease-fire" and that his country reserved "the right to resume the war if necessary, with the support of the United States."

Under the agreement, hostilities are to cease, and 33 Israeli hostages are to be released in a first phase lasting six weeks.

In return, Israel will release 737 Palestinian prisoners, according to the Israeli Ministry of Justice. Egypt has stated that "more than 1,890 Palestinian prisoners" are to be freed during this first phase.

Hostages will be released starting Sunday, the Israeli government announced, without specifying the number or timing.