Hamas has released the first round of three Israeli hostages on Sunday morning, and officials on both sides are hailing the ceasefire deal as it appears to be sticking. For the first time in well over a year, war has been quieted throughout the Strip.
Hostages Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher first reached an Israeli military facility near the border with the Gaza Strip and have been reunited with their families, the IDF has announced. Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari in a press briefing said that Romi, Emily, and Doron and are now in “safe hands”. He said, “They are now with us and on their way home.”
President Biden in a speech marking the exchange of hostages, and on his last day as US president, declared “Today, the guns in Gaza have gone silent.”
“This is one of the toughest negotiations I’ve been part of … but we’ve reached this point today because of the pressure by Israel on Hamas backed by the US,” he said.
“Now the region has been fundamentally transformed,” he continued, given that both the Hezbollah ceasefire and now Gaza truce are holding. He noted that hundreds of humanitarian aid trucks are entering Gaza from…
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