Updated 07:09 IST, January 20th 2025
Gaza Ceasefire Deal: Israel Releases 90 Palestinians Hours After Hamas Freed 3 Hostages
90 Palestinians held hostage by Israel were released in large white buses, hours after Hamas freed three hostages as part of the Gaza Ceasefire Deal.

Ramallah: In a monumental step towards peace, the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal has begun with Hamas releasing three Israeli hostages and in return, Israel freeing 90 Palestinians that were held captive amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas War in the Gaza strip.
Gaza Ceasefire Deal: Israel Releases 90 Palestinians
Israel freed 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees early on Monday, hours after three Israeli hostages released from Hamas captivity in Gaza returned to Israel. Large white buses carrying the detainees exited the gates of Israel's Ofer prison, just outside the West Bank city of Ramallah, as celebratory fireworks erupted overhead.
Crowds of Palestinians thronged the buses, chanting and cheering. According to a list provided by the Palestinian Authority's Commission for Prisoners' Affairs, all of those released were women or minors.
Israel detained all of the people on the list for what it said were offences related to the country's security, from throwing stones to more serious accusations such as attempt to murder. The Israeli military, which occupies the West Bank, repeatedly warned Palestinians against any form of public celebration. The release took place in the middle of the night, in what Palestinians criticised as an attempt to dampen the mood and deter crowds from welcoming the prisoners home.
Who is Khalida Jarrar, PFLP Leading Member and One of the Hostages Released by Israel?
The most prominent of the detainees being freed is Khalida Jarrar, 62, a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or PFLP, a secular Leftist faction that was involved in hijackings and other attacks against Israel in the 1970s but has scaled back its militant activities in recent years.
Since her arrest in December 2023, Jarrar was held under indefinitely renewable six-month administrative detention orders, a practice denounced by human rights groups as a violation of international law.
Dalal Khaseeb, 53, sister of late senior Hamas official Saleh Arouri -- who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Beirut in January 2024 -- is also being released, along with Abla Abdelrasoul, wife of jailed PFLP leader Ahmad Saadat.
The agreement for the swap, laid out as part of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, involves Hamas gradually releasing 33 Israeli hostages held in the Palestinian enclave over the next six weeks in exchange for Israel releasing nearly 2,000 prisoners and detainees from the West Bank and Gaza.
Hamas Returns Three Israeli Hostages As Part of Peace Agreement
The much-awaited Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal finally came into effect after a three-hour delay caused by Hamas citing "technical field reasons" for not providing the list of hostages as demanded by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under the ceasefire agreement. Romi Gonen (24), Emily Damari (28) and Doron Steinbrecher (31) have been handed over to the Israel by Hamas under a ceasefire agreement after being held captive for 471 days.
The Prime Minister’s Office confirms that Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, are in the hands of Israeli forces. “The government of Israel embraces the three returnees,” the PMO says in a statement, adding that their families have been told that they are in Israeli hands. “The government of Israel is committed to returning all of the hostages and the missing.”
The three returning hostages will remain at the Safra Children’s Hospital at the Sheba Medical Center for the coming days, possibly weeks. The hospital has arranged for special medical staff to check the hostages and provide support personnel to assist them during their stay. In addition to medical care, the hospital will provide the hostages with fresh clothes, toiletries, beauty care, and specially prepared meals.
Main Points of Gaza Ceasefire Deal Between Israel and Hamas
Here are the basics of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal that mediators say has been reached. Any deal still needs the approval of Israel's Cabinet. There are three phases.
Phase One starts Sunday, according to mediator Qatar. It should include a six-week halt to fighting and the opening of negotiations on ending the war. Thirty-three of the nearly 100 hostages should be released over the period, although it's not clear if all are alive. They include women, older adults and wounded people.
Mediator the United States says this first phase also includes a withdrawal of Israeli forces from densely populated areas of Gaza. That will allow many displaced Palestinians to return to their communities. Humanitarian assistance would surge, with hundreds of trucks entering Gaza each day. Final details still being worked out include the list of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners to be freed.
Phase Two is harder. Negotiations for this phase are to begin on Day 16 of the ceasefire. The phase would include the release of all remaining living hostages, including male soldiers. Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza. But Israel has said it will not agree to a complete withdrawal until Hamas' military and political capabilities are eliminated. And Hamas says it will not hand over the last hostages until Israel removes all troops.
Phase Three calls for the return of the bodies of remaining hostages and the start of a major reconstruction of Gaza, which is largely devastated and faces decades of rebuilding.
(Inputs from AP)
Published 07:04 IST, January 20th 2025