A long-awaited ceasefire has finally begun in Gaza. Here’s what we know

Three hostages were released from Hamas captivity in Gaza and dozens of Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel on Sunday, as a highly anticipated ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect.

The agreement delivers the first reprieve for the people of Gaza in more than a year and only the second since the Israeli bombardment began. The military offensive launched by Israel in response to Hamas’ October 7 attacks has killed nearly 47,000 Palestinians and injured 110,750 more, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.

The deal will see the release of dozens of Israeli hostages in exchange for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and will allow for a significant uptick in aid to enter the enclave, where residents have long faced dire humanitarian conditions.

Here’s what we know.

What happened on Sunday?

The ceasefire was due to begin at 8:30 a.m. local time in Gaza (1:30 a.m. ET) on Sunday, but was delayed for nearly three hours after Israel said Hamas had not delivered the names of the first three hostages to be released. Hamas blamed a “technical” hold up. The truce eventually began at 11:15 a.m. (4:15 a.m. ET).

Israel’s military continued to pound northern and central Gaza during the delay. At least 19 Palestinians were killed and 36 others were wounded in strikes Sunday morning, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense. Israel’s military said it had struck “terror targets.”

Later Sunday, three female Israeli hostages were released from Hamas captivity. Romi Gonen, 24; Doron Steinbrecher, 31; and Emily Damari, a 28-year-old British-Israeli citizen, are now back in Israel.

The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) told the Israeli government that all three are in good health, an Israeli official told CNN.

The freed hostages’ mothers traveled to Re’im, southern Israel to welcome their daughters home, Israel’s military said. The three women were transferred to the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv, and will receive further treatment.

“Emily is finally home,” Damari’s mother said in a statement. A photo shows Damari smiling and holding up her bandaged hand to the camera.

Large crowds gathered at the Al-Saraya Junction in Gaza City to watch as the three women were handed by Hamas to the Red Cross. Dozens of masked militants from Hamas’ Al Qassam Brigades and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades were present.

Meanwhile, Israelis had gathered in the so-called Hostages Square in Tel Aviv – the site of countless demonstrations over the past 15 months that have called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do more to secure the hostages’ release.

“We can breathe a little more again,” after months of waiting, said Mai, who had joined the gathering. “And we are going to be here until the very last one comes back.”

In exchange, Israel freed 90 Palestinian prisoners on Sunday. Among them are 69 women and nine minors, the youngest of whom is 15.

Buses carrying the freed Palestinians out of Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank were met by huge crowds, cheering and waving flags, with video showing jubilant scenes and emotional reunions as they hugged their families. Earlier, Israeli drones dropped tear gas canisters to disperse crowds near the prison, injuring at least seven people, the Palestine Red Crescent said.

The respite from violence means that many Palestinians displaced in Gaza during Israel’s war are returning home. One Gazan told CNN the moment was “bittersweet.” Many houses have been reduced to rubble.

The Israeli military has withdrawn from several locations in southern and northern Gaza, an Israeli military official told CNN.

How will phase one of the deal work?

The first phase will last for six weeks and will see the staggered release of 33 Israeli hostages.

Hamas and its allies still hold 91 people taken from Israel on October 7, 2023. At least 34 of them are dead, according to the Israeli government, but the true number is expected to be higher. Hamas holds an additional three hostages who have been captive since 2014.

Israel’s government press office on Sunday confirmed the names of the 33 captives due for release, 31 of whom were kidnapped on October 7. The two others have been held since 2014 and 2015. Among those due for release are the two youngest hostages held by Hamas – Kfir and Ariel Bibas who, if alive, would be 2 and 5 years old, respectively.

In return, Israel is expected to release almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The Israeli government has approved the release of 737 Palestinian prisoners and detainees as well as 1,167 Gaza residents it is holding who were not involved in the October 7 attacks.

The Gaza-based Prisoners Media Office, however, said that Israel will release 1,737 prisoners, including 120 women and children. Nearly 300 Palestinians serving life sentences will also be among those released, according to their office.

It is unclear why the two sides issued different figures. CNN has asked both to clarify.

During the first 42-day phase, Israel is due to withdraw from population centers but will retain a presence along Gaza’s borders and on a road dividing the territory.

What does it mean for aid?

The agreement allows for a dramatic uptick in humanitarian relief to enter Gaza.

The number of aid trucks entering the enclave will increase to 600 per day, a significant improvement from the 614 truckloads of aid that entered Gaza in the first two weeks of January, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

After waiting for days at the border, trucks surged into the enclave on Sunday. UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher said at least 630 trucks with humanitarian aid entered Gaza on Sunday, with at least 300 of them going to the north. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said that it had 4,000 aid trucks ready to go.

The World Food Programme (WFP) confirmed Sunday that its first aid trucks had started to cross into Gaza. It said that the trucks entered via the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings.

The UN has warned the increased aid allotment would be “only a start” in addressing the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the enclave. The World Health Organization said Gaza’s “health challenges ahead are immense,” as residents of the war-torn enclave face rising disease and malnutrition.

Israeli strikes have laid waste to large swathes of Gaza and human rights groups have described “unspeakable” living conditions.

Israel’s military campaign has pulverized neighborhoods, damaged health infrastructure and depleted food, water and fuel supplies. In December, Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Israel of “acts of genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza by deliberately depriving them of adequate water supplies.

How does the rest of the deal work?

Negotiations to reach the second and third phases of a ceasefire agreement – which is intended to end the war – would begin on the 16th day of the implementation of the deal, according to an Israeli official.

Israel has not committed to ending the war, but has said it will take part in negotiations to progress the ceasefire to its next phases. Mediators in Cairo, including Egypt, Qatar and the United States, will monitor the implementation of the deal.

Although the ceasefire is not guaranteed to last beyond the first phase, the Israeli official told CNN that Israel is eager to “bring all our hostages back home.”

The deal has caused a political storm in Israel. On Sunday, three far-right Israeli ministers from the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party resigned from Netanyahu’s government in opposition to the ceasefire – National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, and Minister of the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Yitzhak Wasserlauf.

Another far-right minister of Netanyahu’s coalition, Bezalel Smotrich, opposes the deal but has not resigned. Smotrich, who serves as minister of finance, threatened to resign if Israel does not return to war after the first phase of the truce ends.

What happens next in the war?

With the second and third phases uncertain, there are no guarantees that Israel will not resume its bombardment of Gaza.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told CNN that Israel hadn’t achieved its goal of defeating Hamas, saying the group was “still in power in Gaza.”

He stressed that the agreed ceasefire is temporary and “it is not automatic to move from one phase to the other phase.”

In a speech on Saturday, Netanyahu said both outgoing US President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump have agreed to support Israel’s decision to return to war if Hamas does not abide by the deal.

CNN’s Nadeen Ebrahim, Mick Krever, Jeremy Diamond, Eve Brennan, Ibrahim Dahman, Antoinette Radford, Dana Karni, Becky Anderson, Helen Regan and Hira Humayun contributed to this report.

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