A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas comes 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 has not confirmed which names are on the list of hostages to be released, but the family of 24-year-old Romi Gonan, who was abducted at the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, said his family is included.

“Romi is on the list. Official. We wish you all the best of luck,” Gonan’s brother wrote on social media.

“Romi is coming home!” his father sent.

In Gaza, warplanes and drones have reportedly disappeared from the skies as the deal goes into effect, and aid trucks 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 unusual meeting on the Jewish Sabbath, the full Israeli Cabinet voted to approve the agreement.

Authorizations began to fizzle and a new wave of emotions erupted as relatives wondered whether the hostages would be returned alive or dead.

How the release of the captives 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 returning 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 have arrived 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 from the Israeli-occupied Gaza will be exempted from 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 around 1,200 people in Israel and left around 250 hostages. About 100 hostages remain in Gaza.

Israel has responded with attacks that have 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.