By Sophie Tanno and Lauren Kent, CNN
(CNN) — Fighting in the Gaza Strip halted on Sunday and three female hostages were released from Hamas captivity, 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 haskilled nearly 47,000 Palestinians and injured 110,750 more, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
The dealwill 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.
The first hostages – three women taken captive on October 7, 2023 – were handed to the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza on Sunday.
Here’s what we know.
What’s happening on Sunday?
The ceasefire came into effect at 11:15 a.m. (4:15 a.m. ET) Sunday morning, after being pushed back by nearly three hours.
The delay came as Israel said it could not begin the truce until Hamas delivered the names of the first three hostages to being released, whileHamas blamed a “technical” hold-up. The Israeli government confirmed the ceasefire had begun after receiving the names.
During the delay, the Israeli military continued to strike northern and central Gaza. At least 19 Palestinians were killed in strikes on Sunday morning, according to the civil defense in the enclave, with more than 36 people wounded. Israel’s military said it had carried out strikes against “terror targets.”
Later on Sunday, three female hostages – 24-year-old Romi Gonen, 31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher, and 28-year-old dual UK-Israeli citizen Emily Damari – were released from Hamas captivity. The Israeli military confirmed that Hamas had handed over the hostages to the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza.
They are on their way towards Israeli forces in Gaza, the military said. From there, they will be transferred to Israel, where they will be reunited with their families and receive medical attention.
A large crowd gathered at Gaza City’s Al-Saraya Junction for the handover. Dozens of masked militants from Hamas’ Al Qassam Brigades and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades were present.
Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, Israelis cheered and hugged as news of the handover broke. “Romi is coming back! Emily is coming back! Doron is coming back!” they chanted in Hostages Square.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners will be freed by Israel on Sunday. Among them are 69 women and nine minors, the youngest of whom is 15. The Israeli Justice Ministry had previously said that 95 people would be released. Several people listed had subsequently been identified as having already having been freed.
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 meanwhile withdrawn from several locations in both southern and northern Gaza, an Israeli military official told CNN.
How will phase one of the deal work?
The first phase of the Israel-Hamas agreement 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, though the true number is expected to be higher. Hamas holds an additional three hostages who have been captive since 2014.
In a statement on Sunday, Israel’s government press office confirmed the names of all 33 of the captives due for release, 31 of whom were kidnapped on October 7. The other two hostages due for release have been held since 2014 and 2015, respectively. Among those due for release are the two youngest hostages held by Hamas – Kfir and Ariel Bibas who, if alive, would be two and five years-old, respectively.
In return, Israel is expected to release almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners during this initial phase. The Israeli government said on Friday it had 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 in 2023.
The Prisoners Media Office based in Gaza, however, said in a statement on Saturday 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 have issued different figures. CNN has reached out to both for clarity.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, 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 data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The first trucks operating under the new deal surged into the Palestinian enclave on Sunday after waiting at the border for days. As the ceasefire came into effect, 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.
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.
The ceasefire is not guaranteed to continue beyond the first phase of the deal. Concrete details of the second and third phases still need to be agreed upon, and negotiations on these stages would only begin on the 16th day of the deal’s implementation.
However, the official told CNN that Israel is eager to “bring all our hostages back home” and will enter negotiations to enter the second phase of the agreement in good faith, which could lead to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
Israel does not commit to ending the war in the agreement but has committed to engage in negotiations to enter the next phase of the deal — which would lead to the full withdrawal of Israeli troops. The Associated Press reported earlier this weekthat the mediators gave Hamas verbal guarantees that they will pressure Israel to reach a deal for the next phases of the agreement.
A joint operations room will be established in Cairo to monitor the implementation of the deal and will include representatives from Egypt, Qatar, the United States, Israel, and Palestinian officials, according to Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera News, citing a senior Egyptian official.
The deal has caused a political storm in Israel. Three far-right Israeli ministers resigned from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government on Sunday in opposition to the ceasefire agreement – Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, Minister of the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Yitzhak Wasserlauf and Minister of Heritage Amichai Eliyahu, all of whom are from Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party.
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 ceasefire agreement’s second and third phases still not concrete, there are no guarantees that Israel won’t continue its bombardment of Gaza.
Speaking to CNN’s Bianna Golodryga on Sunday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar acknowledged 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 a temporary one, 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 and Hira Humayun contributed to this report.
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