Three Gaza hostages have been released and are now back in Israel, the Israel military said Sunday evening, following the implementation of a cease-fire in the morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“They’re home<\/a>,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a post on X<\/a> along with images of the three women, who had been taken captive by Hamas when the militant group attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The three released hostages are Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher. Damari has dual British-Israeli citizenship. They will undergo an initial medical assessment, the IDF said. An Israeli official\u00a0told the media\u00a0that the Red Cross had said the three women were in good health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Israeli government earlier announced the names of 33 hostages it expects to be released<\/a> under the truce deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The cease-fire agreement, brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the U.S., pauses the 15-month war<\/a> that began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas militants killed around 1,200 Israelis and took some 250 hostages into Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The deal has three phases. The first stage will see the staggered release of 33 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and more than 700 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following the release of first three hostages, Israel is now expected to free the first Palestinian detainees. According to Hamas, the 90 Palestinians to go free on Sunday include 69 women and 21 teenage boys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Negotiations for the second phase of the agreement are due to begin on Day 16 of the cease-fire. The talks would include discussion of a permanent end to the fighting, a total withdrawal of Israel\u2019s armed forces and the release of the remaining hostages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phase three would involve the return of dead hostages and the start of a major rebuilding effort in Gaza, which has been devastated by the war. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “It is vital that the deal is fully implemented to allow all the hostages to be released, and to ensure a permanent end to hostilities<\/a>,” the Council of the European Union said in a statement. It is important “that much needed humanitarian aid will reach civilians in Gaza,” it added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Israel’s Cabinet ratified the agreement in the early hours of Saturday despite opposition from hard-right ministers which threatened to derail the process. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement<\/a> that the first exchange of prisoners would take place “as early as Sunday.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Sunday morning, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right politician with strong anti-Palestinian views, resigned from the government, calling the cease-fire<\/a> a “reckless deal”<\/a> in a post on X. Other ministers from his Otzma Yehudit Party also quit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Three Gaza hostages have been released and are now back in Israel, the Israel military said Sunday evening, following the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13643,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1737310294025_lc_galleryImage_Doron_Steinbrecher_in_pin.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13614,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/israels-netanyahu-delays-gaza-cease-fire-vote-accusing-hamas-of-trying-to-back-out-of-deal\/","url_meta":{"origin":13642,"position":0},"title":"Israel’s Netanyahu delays Gaza cease-fire vote, accusing Hamas of trying to back out of deal","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"January 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office delayed a cabinet vote Thursday to approve a cease-fire and hostage release deal with Hamas, accusing the group of creating a crisis at the 11th hour by going back on parts of the agreement. \"Hamas is reneging on the understandings and creating a last-minute\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National News"","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/national-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AA1xj0Fx.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AA1xj0Fx.jpg 1x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AA1xj0Fx.jpg 1.5x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AA1xj0Fx.jpg 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10949,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/israel-kills-3-hostages-by-mistake-usa-urges-restraint\/","url_meta":{"origin":13642,"position":1},"title":"Israel Kills 3 Hostages \u2018By Mistake\u2019, USA Urges Restraint","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"December 17, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Irael Defence Forces (IDF) officials have insisted they made a mistake in identifying the three hostages they killed in Gaza as threats, and have offered their condolences to the families ahead of \u201cfull transparency\u201d from the upcoming investigation. US President Joe Biden\u2019s national security advisor Jake Sullivan reportedly told Israeli\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National News"","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/national-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/idf.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/idf.jpg 1x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/idf.jpg 1.5x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/idf.jpg 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15686,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/hamas-releases-remaining-20-living-israeli-hostages\/","url_meta":{"origin":13642,"position":2},"title":"Hamas releases remaining 20 living Israeli hostages","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"October 13, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Hamas on Monday released all 20 living hostages still being held since the October, 2023 attacks in Israel, marking a major milestone in the first phase of a Middle East\u00a0peace deal\u00a0to end the fighting in Gaza. Israeli officials confirmed that Hamas\u00a0had transferred\u00a0all 20 remaining hostages to the custody of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National News"","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/national-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/download-2.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13994,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/trump-issues-last-warning-to-hamas-as-us-confirms-direct-hostage-talks\/","url_meta":{"origin":13642,"position":3},"title":"Trump issues ‘last warning’ to Hamas as US confirms direct hostage talks","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"March 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"US President Donald Trump has issued what he called a \"last warning\" to Hamas to release the hostages being held in Gaza. \"I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job, not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don't do as I say,\" Trump said\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National News"","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/national-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/OIF-1.jpeg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12002,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/israels-war-on-gaza-icc-arrest-warrants-sought-for-israeli-hamas-leaders\/","url_meta":{"origin":13642,"position":4},"title":"Israel\u2019s war on Gaza: ICC arrest warrants sought for Israeli, Hamas leaders","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"May 20, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":".International Criminal Court chief prosecutor says he is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leaders. The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has released a statement on his application for the arrest warrants of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "international News"","block_context":{"text":"international News","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/international-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/57051320-16a5-11ef-9b12-1ba8f95c4917.jpg.webp","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/57051320-16a5-11ef-9b12-1ba8f95c4917.jpg.webp 1x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/57051320-16a5-11ef-9b12-1ba8f95c4917.jpg.webp 1.5x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/57051320-16a5-11ef-9b12-1ba8f95c4917.jpg.webp 2x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/57051320-16a5-11ef-9b12-1ba8f95c4917.jpg.webp 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12535,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/israel-kills-another-hamas-military-chief-as-middle-east-on-brink-of-regional-huge-war\/","url_meta":{"origin":13642,"position":5},"title":"Israel kills another Hamas military chief as Middle East on brink of regional huge war","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"August 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The Israeli military has confirmed that the head of\u00a0Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an airstrike in\u00a0Gaza\u00a0. Mohammed Deif was killed in an Israeli strike in July The Israeli military has confirmed that the head of\u00a0Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an airstrike in\u00a0Gaza\u00a0in July. Israel\u00a0targeted\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National News"","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/national-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/download.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0aOV-3y2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13642"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13644,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13642\/revisions\/13644"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}