The truce, which started at 11:15 a.m. local time, is just the first step toward ultimately ending the conflict and returning nearly 100 hostages abducted in Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

Israeli media, carrying live footage from Qatar-based Al Jazeera, is showing the first images of the first three hostages to be released.

The three women – Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari, who is also a British national – have been transferred to the Red Cross and are on their way toward the Israeli military and security forces in the Gaza strip, according to a statement on Sunday (Jan 19).

Steve Witkoff, Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, plans to be a near-constant presence in the region in an attempt to prevent the deal from unraveling.

The UN has said that people in Gaza are “effectively starving.” Before the war, the territory was “largely self-sufficient” in fresh produce, it added. But Israel’s mili

Hamas is expected to release three hostages Sunday, while Israel will set free around 90 Palestinian prisoners—halting hostilities while a permanent truce is negotiated.

The first stage of a truce between Israel and Hamas prompted celebrations in Gaza and hope for an end to the 15-month war. Three Israeli hostages were expected to be freed on Sunday, along with dozens of Palestinian prisoners.

Three Israeli hostages and 90 Palestinian prisoners were expected to be released Sunday as the ceasefire in Gaza appeared to hold.

Hamas has now handed it's first three hostages to the Red Cross, as part of the first phase of its ceasefire agreement with Israel - including British-Israeli Emily Damari

The truce, which started at 11:15 a.m. local time, is just the first step toward ultimately ending the conflict and returning nearly 100 hostages abducted in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack.

The ceasefire was delayed after Israel said Hamas had failed to produce the names of the first three hostages expected to be released on Sunday under the truce.