Hamas released the first three Israeli prisoners as a cease-fire was reached in the Gaza Strip Israel-Palestine conflict news

The first phase of the agreement is supposed to last 42 days and release more captives and prisoners.

Israel has confirmed that it has handed over power to Hamas the first three women are captured A cease-fire agreement has entered into force for the war-torn Gaza Strip.

Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were handed over to the Red Cross, Israel’s military and internal security agency Shin Bet said in a joint statement late Sunday.

Red Cross vehicles took off from Gaza City in the heavily besieged northern part of the enclave after Hamas drove the captives into Saraya Square.

The ceasefire agreement will be implemented in three phases and includes sending more humanitarian aid vehicles to Gaza to help alleviate the disaster in the enclave. The first phase will last 42 days, with Israeli forces withdrawing some parts of Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted he will continue to fight the resignation of some far-right lawmakers in his government led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Thousands of Palestinians marked the long-awaited ceasefire It could improve the situation in Gaza after more than 15 months of deadly Israeli attacks that have left more than 46,000 Palestinians dead and thousands more missing.

Ibrahim Khalili, an employee of Al-Jazeera channel reporting from Al-Saraya square, described the scenes of joy among the crowd.

“They are very happy,” she said. “After 15 months of war that destroyed everything, celebrations are held everywhere. This is a historical moment.”

The captives are expected to be taken immediately to Israeli forces for identification and then flown to a hospital in central Israel. After they are reunited with their families, they will stay there for at least four days to undergo a psychological and medical examination.

Israel’s prison services, as well as Israeli forces, this week reported how they are preparing for the release of the prisoners.

On October 7, 2023, during the attack of Hamas in the south of Israel, about 250 people were captured. About 100 captives still remain in Gaza after others have been freed or their bodies recovered at the end of 2023, although it is not known exactly how many are alive.

Al Jazeera has obtained a list of 90 Palestinian prisoners who will be released in exchange for three Israeli prisoners.

All of them are from the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, the list includes mostly women and a few children.

Khalida Jarrar, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the occupied West Bank, is on the list. Others on the list include at least 12 Palestinian youths, some under the age of 19 and minors.

According to Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, many children and minors have been arrested on charges of throwing stones at Israeli forces.

“We’re talking light sentences,” he said. “The list of prisoners, hundreds of names released, are mostly serving administrative sentences, a tactic used by Israeli policy to detain people indefinitely without charge. These administrative arrests are repeatedly renewed.”

Hours before the ceasefire took effect, Israel announced it had retrieved the body of Oron Shaul, who was killed in the 2014 Israel-Hamas war and whose remains have been kept since then.