A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas goes into effect as families await the release of hostages

The long awaited ceasefire between Israel and Hamas officially started after a last-minute delay of nearly three hours. The fighting continued past the 8:30 a.m. (1:30 a.m. Eastern) deadline as the Israeli military said Hamas had failed to provide the names of the first three hostages to be released, under the terms of the deal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office later confirmed that the list had been provided and that the ceasefire would begin at 11:15 am local time (4:15 am Eastern). Now, Israeli families are awaiting the release of hostages who have been held by Hamas for more than 15 months.

The exchange is scheduled to begin at 9 am Eastern Time, 4 pm local time on Sunday.

Netanyahu’s office did not confirm which names were on the list, but the Forum for Captives and Missing Families, which represents the families of the kidnappers, confirmed that Romi Gonen, 24, Doron Steinbrecher, 31, and 28-year-old Emily Damari were expected to be released later on Sunday.

“We await their safe return to Israel to be reunited with their families after 471 days of being imprisoned by Hamas,” the statement said.

In Gaza, warplanes and drones are reported to have disappeared from the skies as the deal takes effect, and at least 191 aid trucks are said to have begun entering Gaza via the Karem Shalom crossing.

The first phase of the ceasefire calls for Hamas to release 33 hostages within six weeks. They include women, children and hostages over the age of 50, according to a draft seen by CBS News.

The plan states that three living female hostages will be returned on Day 1. Four hostages will be released on Day 7, and the remaining 26 in the next five weeks.

A pause — the second in a 15-month war — was won through joint pressure from President-elect Donald Trump and the outgoing administration of President Biden.

On Wednesday, Mr. Biden and Qatar’s prime minister separately announced the deal after a week of intense talks mediated by Qatar, the US and Egypt.

In a Truth Social post, Trump welcomed the upcoming release of the three hostages.

“The hostages start coming out today! Three beautiful new women will be the first,” he wrote Sunday morning.

In a unusual meeting on the Jewish Sabbath, the full Israeli Cabinet voted to approve the agreement.

The approval caused a frenzy and a new wave of emotions as relatives wondered whether the hostages would be returned alive or dead.

How the release of the hostages will work

Under the negotiated agreement, the ceasefire will be in three phases.

The first phase of the ceasefire will last 42 days, while talks on the second, more difficult phase are expected to begin in just two weeks.

After six weeks of the first phase, Israel’s security cabinet will decide how to proceed.

In total, Hamas will release 33 hostages in the first phase. Hamas will begin releasing hostages on the first day, initially returning three to Israel, according to a draft seen by CBS News. On the seventh day, Hamas will release four hostages. After that, Hamas released three hostages every seven days, starting with the living, then moving on to return the bodies of the dead.

A senior IDF official said on Saturday that the hostages would first be handed over by Hamas to the Red Cross, then brought to special IDF reception areas for an initial health check before being transferred to hospitals inside Israel to be reunited with their families.

During each exchange, Palestinian prisoners will be released by Israel after the hostages arrive safely.

Mr. Biden said on Wednesday that Americans would be among the hostages released in the first phase of the deal, but he did not specify any names or how soon they would be released.

In the first phase, Israel will release at least 1,700 Palestinian prisoners, including 1,167 Gazans who were not involved in the October 7, 2023, attack led by Hamas that sparked the war. All women and children under the age of 19 in the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip will be released in this phase.

The remaining hostages in Gaza, including male Israeli soldiers, will be released in a second phase that will be discussed in the first. Hamas has said it will not release the remaining detainees without a permanent disarmament and full withdrawal from Israel.

When does the fighting stop?

During the first phase of the end of the war, Israeli forces must return to a safe zone about half a mile wide in the middle of Gaza near its borders with Israel.

In a post on X, Qatar’s foreign minister advised Palestinians to be cautious when the ceasefire goes into effect and wait for official instructions.

The Israeli military later said Palestinians would not be able to cross the Netzarim tunnel through central Gaza for the seven days of the ceasefire, and warned Palestinians not to approach Israeli forces.

Despite the warnings and uncertainty, anticipation was high.

“The first thing I’m going to do is look for my house,” Mohamed Mahdi, a father of two who was displaced from the Gaza City neighborhood of Zaytoun, told the Associated Press. He also longed to see the family in southern Gaza, but “is still worried that one of us might be martyred before we can meet.”

An attack led by Hamas on October 7, 2023, killed about 1,200 people in Israel and left about 250 hostages. About 100 hostages remain in Gaza.

Israel has responded with an attack that has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and militants, but says women and children make up more than half of the dead.