The next phase of the Gaza peace plan brokered by President Trump moved forward significantly on Monday as Hamas released all of the 20 living Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, and as more aid started to flow into the Palestinian territory after two years of war. 

The steps are crucial parts of President Trump’s 20-point peace plan, and they came three days after a ceasefire took effect in Gaza and Israeli troops pulled back to a pre-determined line.

World leaders, including Mr. Trump, met in Egypt on Monday for a summit on the future of Gaza and the broader Middle East. 

But the situation remains fragile, with major questions over what comes next still to be answered.

Negotiations over next steps

Israel and Hamas have little trust in each other, and it took a number of failed, indirect negotiations in Doha, Qatar’s capital, to get to the truce, with Egypt and Qatar acting as meditators.

The initial phases of the agreement called for: the release of the final hostages held by Hamas, living and dead; the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel; a surge of humanitarian aid to Gaza; and a partial pullback by Israeli forces from Gaza’s main cities. 

Egypt’s foreign minister said on Monday that it was crucial that Israel and Hamas fully implement the first phase of the deal so that the parties can start negotiations on the second phase. As of Monday evening, all living hostages were back in Israel, but the remains of many of the slain captives remained in Gaza.

“We’re very committed to [the ceasefire deal],” Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Nadav Shoshani told CBS News on Monday. “The agreement specifically says 72 hours for when IDF redeploys on the new line … That is past already, and not all hostages have returned yet, so we understand what we’re dealing with.”

Later phases of the plan will have to address thornier issues such as Gaza’s postwar governance, Israel’s demand that Hamas disarm, which the group has rejected, and Palestinian demands for a state, which the current Israeli government has rejected.

Negotiations over those issues could break down, and Israel has hinted it may resume military operations if its demands are not met.

President Trump’s plan to end the war also stipulates that regional and international partners will work to develop the core of a new Palestinian security force. 

Reconstruction will be another major challenge. The World Bank, and a postwar plan proposed by Egypt, estimates that at least $53 billion will be needed to rebuild the shattered Palestinian territory. Egypt plans to host a future reconstruction conference.

Will Hamas disarm?

Among the most difficult issues is Israel’s insistence that a weakened Hamas completely disarm. Hamas refuses to do that and wants to ensure Israel pulls its troops completely out of Gaza.

So far, the Israeli military has withdrawn from Gaza City, the southern city of Khan Younis and other areas, but it remains in control of about 53% of the enclave, according to Israeli officials. Troops remain in most of the southern city of Rafah, towns of Gaza’s far north, and a wide strip along the length of Gaza’s border with Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that Israel was “tightening the noose around Hamas from all sides,” and vowed that Gaza would be demilitarized after the Israeli government approved the peace plan, which it did hours later.

“Hamas will disarm and Gaza will be demilitarized. If this can be achieved the easy way, all the better; if not, it will be achieved the hard way,” Netanyahu said, addressing reporters.

Who will govern Gaza?

Israel and Hamas have not agreed on Gaza’s postwar governance.

Under the U.S. plan, an international body is supposed to govern the Palestinian territory, overseeing Palestinian technocrats running day-to-day affairs. Hamas and other factions would not have any role in Gaza’s governance.

The plan envisions an eventual role for Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority — something Netanyahu has long opposed. But it requires the authority, which administers parts of the West Bank, to first undergo a sweeping reform program, and it does not provide any timeline for the process.

Hamas has said Gaza’s government should be worked out among Palestinians.

The deal also recognizes an independent Palestinian state as, “the aspiration of the Palestinian people,” but it’s unclear if or when discussions on statehood could take place, and Israel’s Netanyahu has repeatedly said he will not allow the creation of a Palestinian state.

International security force 

The plan calls for an Arab-led international security force in Gaza, along with Palestinian police trained by Egypt and Jordan. It says Israeli forces will leave additional areas as those forces deploy.

Under the plan, the force would work with Israel and Egypt to help secure border areas, along with the newly trained Palestinian police forces.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said the international force needs a U.N. Security Council resolution to endorse its deployment and mandate as a peacekeeping force.

About 200 U.S. troops are now in Israel to monitor the ceasefire and the early stages of the peace plan. They were expected to carry out that work in conjunction with partner nations, nongovernmental organizations and private-sector players.

The family of Omri Miran, one of the seven Israeli hostages released by Hamas on Monday, has released a statement after he was handed over to IDF troops in the Gaza Strip.

“After more than 700 long, painful, and agonizing days, Omri will finally receive from Roni and Alma a healing embrace,” Miran’s family said. “We want to thank the people of Israel from the bottom of our hearts for standing by us in the darkest hours and on days when this moment seemed like a distant and impossible wish. This moment, today, is not a personal victory but a victory of an entire people.”

“We also want to express our deep gratitude to the security forces and the heroic IDF soldiers. We are at the beginning of a complex and challenging, yet moving, journey of recovery,” the statement continued. “We remain committed to the struggle — until the last hostage returns, and until the complete recovery of our beloved country. May Omri’s return mark the beginning of this recovery and the unity of our people.”

 

11m ago

Israeli military says first group of 7 hostages transferred to Red Cross in Gaza

 

51m ago

Israeli military says Red Cross headed to meet first group of hostages for handover

 

Updated 59m ago

Israelis gather in Tel Aviv ahead of hostage release

 

Updated 12:41 AM

First set of hostages to be released around 8 a.m. local time

 

Updated 12:24 AM

Egyptian foreign minister says he is “confident” first phase of Gaza peace plan will be implemented

 

Updated 12:24 AM

Family of Israeli hostage “in shock” over imminent release

 

Updated 12:24 AM

Thousands of Palestinians return home amid ceasefire

President Trump says Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement for Hamas to release all remaining hostages and for Israel to withdraw its forces to an “agreed upon line.” CBS News’ Ed O’Keefe reports.

YORK, Pa. — Workers at a Pennsylvania hospital who were injured during a shooting that left the gunman and a police officer dead were reported “medically stable” Sunday as the hospital remained closed to visitors, according to the hospital.

Investigators were still piecing together what happened a day after a man armed with a pistol and carrying zip ties headed straight to the intensive care unit at UPMC Memorial Hospital in York and took staff members hostage before he was killed by police in a shootout that also left an officer dead.

A doctor, a nurse, a custodian and two other police officers were shot and wounded in the attack at the central Pennsylvania hospital on Saturday, authorities said. A fourth hospital staffer was injured in a fall.

UPMC officials said injured staff members were “progressing in their recovery” but visitors would not be allowed for the time being as the hospital beefed up medical campus security.

“We know that families and visitors are vital to helping patients heal, and we are working toward making visitation possible again,” the hospital said in a statement.

Authorities have said little about the shooter’s motive.

York County District Attorney Tim Barker said while the investigation is in its early stages, it appears the shooter had previous contact with the hospital’s ICU earlier in the week for “a medical purpose involving another individual” and he intentionally targeted the workers there.

Gunfire erupted after officers went to engage the shooter, whom authorities identified as 49-year-old Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz. He was holding at gunpoint a female staff member who had her hands bound with zip ties when police opened fire, authorities said.

The officer who died was identified as Andrew Duarte of the West York Borough Police Department.

Duarte was a law enforcement veteran who joined the department in 2022 after five years with the Denver Police Department, according to his LinkedIn profile. He described receiving a “hero award” in 2021 from Mothers Against Drunk Driving for his work in impaired driving enforcement for the state of Colorado.

“Officer Duarte’s bravery and commitment to upholding the law are a testament to the selflessness shown daily by those who have dedicated themselves to protecting and serving,” Pennsylvania State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police said in a statement.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who ordered flags be flown half-staff to honor Duarte, said he met Saturday evening with Duarte’s parents and fellow officers who were wounded. The two wounded officers, from Northern York County Regional and Springettsbury Township police departments, were reported in stable condition.

“Their willingness to run toward danger helped save the lives of others,” Shapiro said on the social platform X. “I’m grateful to them and all law enforcement who answered the call today in York.”

UPMC Memorial is a five-story, 104-bed hospital that opened in 2019 in York, a city of about 40,000 people known for its creation of York Peppermint Patties in 1940.

The shooting is part of a wave of gun violence in recent years that has swept through U.S. hospitals and medical centers, which have struggled to adapt to the growing threats. Such attacks have helped make health care one of the nation’s most violent fields, with workers suffering more nonfatal injuries from workplace violence than workers in any other profession, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

YORK, Pa. — A man armed with a pistol and carrying zip ties entered a Pennsylvania hospital’s intensive care unit Saturday and took staff members hostage before he was killed by police in a shootout that also left an officer dead, authorities said.

Three workers at UPMC Memorial Hospital, including a doctor, a nurse and a custodian, and two other officers were shot and wounded in the attack, York County District Attorney Tim Barker said. A fourth staffer was injured in a fall.

Gunfire erupted after officers went to engage the shooter, whom Barker identified as Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz, 49. He said Archangel-Ortiz was holding at gunpoint a female staff member who had her hands bound with zip ties when police opened fire.

“This is a huge loss to our community,” Barker said at a press conference following the shooting. “It is absolutely clear, and beyond any and all doubt, that the officers were justified in taking their action using deadly force.”

Barker added that while the investigation is in its early stages, it appears Archangel-Ortiz had previous contact with the hospital’s ICU earlier in the week for “a medical purpose involving another individual” and he intentionally targeted the workers there.

No one answered the door Saturday at an address in York believed to be that of Archangel-Ortiz.

The officer who died was identified as Andrew Duarte of the West York Borough Police Department.

“We all have broken hearts and are grieving at his loss,” West York Borough Manager Shawn Mauck told The Associated Press.

Duarte was a law enforcement veteran who joined the department in 2022 after five years with the Denver Police Department, according to his LinkedIn profile. He described receiving a “hero award” in 2021 from Mothers Against Drunk Driving for his work in impaired driving enforcement for the state of Colorado.

“I have a type A personality and like to succeed in all that I do,” his LinkedIn profile said.

Duarte also worked as a patrol officer in Denver, was highly regarded for his work and was close friends with other officers, the department there said in a statement.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said he met Saturday evening with Duarte’s parents and fellow officers who were wounded.

“Their willingness to run toward danger helped save the lives of others,” Shapiro said on the social platform X. “I’m grateful to them and all law enforcement who answered the call today in York.”

At a makeshift memorial on the front steps of the West York Borough Police Department, Linda Shields dropped off roses Saturday and dabbed tears as she thought of her son, a police officer in Maryland.

“He was so young,” Shields said of Duarte. “It makes no sense at all.”

Shapiro called the attack on police and health care workers “the act of a coward.”

UPMC Memorial is a five-story, 104-bed hospital that opened in 2019 in York, a city of about 40,000 people known for its creation of York Peppermint Patties in 1940.

The shooting is part of a wave of gun violence in recent years that has swept through U.S. hospitals and medical centers, which have struggled to adapt to the growing threats. Such attacks have helped make health care one of the nation’s most violent fields, with workers suffering more nonfatal injuries from workplace violence than workers in any other profession, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 2023, a shooter killed a security guard in the lobby of New Hampshire’s state psychiatric hospital before being fatally shot by a state trooper. In 2022, a man killed two workers at a Dallas hospital while there to watch his child’s birth. In May of that year, a man opened fire in a medical center waiting room in Atlanta, killing one woman and wounding four. And just one month later, a gunman killed his surgeon and three other people at a Tulsa, Oklahoma, medical office because he blamed the doctor for his continuing pain after an operation.

___

Associated Press writers Mike Catalini, Trenton, New Jersey, and Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City contributed.

Khan Younis, Gaza Strip — Hamas on Thursday released the bodies of four Israeli hostages, said to include a mother and her two young children who have long been feared dead and had come to embody the nation’s agony following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel.

The remains were said to be those of Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir, as well as Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted. Kfir, who was 9 months old when he was taken, was the youngest of all the captives. Hamas has said all four were killed along with their guards in Israeli airstrikes.

“Our hearts — the hearts of an entire nation — lie in tatters,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a statement. “On behalf of the State of Israel, I bow my head and ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness for not protecting you on that terrible day. Forgiveness for not bringing you home safely.” 

The militants displayed four black caskets on a stage surrounded by banners, including a large one depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a vampire, as Red Cross vehicles arrived at the scene in the Gaza Strip. 

The fighters then carried the caskets over to Red Cross vehicles, where staffers in red vests covered them in white sheets before placing them inside. Each casket had a picture fixed to the front bearing the image of the slain hostage whose remains were purportedly inside.

The Red Cross convoy headed back to Israel, where authorities were to carry out the formal identification of the remains using DNA, a process expected to take up to two days. Only then will the families be given the final notification.

 A statement from Netanyahu’s office confirmed that Israel had “received the caskets of four fallen hostages.”

Netanyahu said in a brief video statement that Thursday would be “a very difficult day for the state of Israel. An upsetting day, a day of grief,” Reuters reported.

Thousands of people, including large numbers of masked and armed fighters from Hamas and other factions, gathered at the handover site on the outskirts of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

Israeli channels did not broadcast the handover. In Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, where Israelis have gathered to watch the release of living hostages, a large screen showed a compilation of photos and videos of Lifshitz and the Bibas family, including a chuckling baby Kfir and the family dressed up in Batman costumes. Yarden Bibas, the children’s father, was not with his family on Oct. 7, but was taken separately. He was released earlier this month after 16 months in captivity.

Dozens of residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz, from which the four slain hostages released on Thursday were kidnapped, gathered to wave Israeli flags outside of their temporary home an hour north of the ravaged kibbutz.

Israelis have celebrated the return of 24 living hostages in recent weeks under a tenuous ceasefire that paused over 15 months of war. But the handover on Thursday will provide a grim reminder of those who died in captivity as the talks leading up to the truce dragged on for over a year.

It could also provide impetus for negotiations on the second stage of the ceasefire that have hardly begun. The first phase is set to end at the beginning of March.

Kfir Bibas was just 9 months old, a red-headed infant with a toothless smile, when militants stormed into the family’s home on Oct. 7, 2023. His brother Ariel was 4. Video shot that day showed a terrified Shiri swaddling the two boys as militants led them into Gaza.

Relatives in Israel have clung to hope, marking Kfir’s first and second birthdays and his brother’s fifth. The Bibas family said in a statement Wednesday that it would wait for “identification procedures” before acknowledging that their loved ones were dead.

Supporters throughout Israel have worn orange in solidarity with the family — a reference to two boys’ red hair — and a popular children’s song was written in their honor.

Like the Bibas family, Oded Lifshitz was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, along with his wife Yocheved, who was freed during a weeklong ceasefire in November 2023. Oded was a journalist who campaigned for the recognition of Palestinian rights and peace between Arabs and Jews.

Hamas-led militants abducted 251 hostages, including some 30 children, in the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, in which they also killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

More than half the hostages, and most of the women and children, have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israeli forces have rescued eight and have recovered dozens of bodies of people killed in the initial attack or who died in captivity.

Hamas is set to free six living hostages on Saturday in exchange for hundreds more Palestinian prisoners, and says it will release four more bodies next week, completing the ceasefire’s first phase. That will leave the militants with some 60 hostages, all men, around half of whom are believed to be dead.

Hamas has said it won’t release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal. Netanyahu, with the full backing of the Trump administration, says he is committed to destroying Hamas’ military and governing capacities and returning all the hostages, goals widely seen as mutually exclusive.

Mr. Trump’s proposal to remove some 2 million Palestinians from Gaza so the U.S. can own and rebuild it, which has been welcomed by Netanyahu but universally rejected by Palestinians and Arab countries, has thrown the ceasefire into further doubt.

Hamas could be reluctant to free more hostages if it believes the war will resume with the goal of annihilating the group or forcibly transferring Gaza’s population.

Israel’s military offensive killed over 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its records. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.

The offensive destroyed vast areas of Gaza, reducing entire neighborhoods to fields of rubble and bombed-out buildings. At its height, the war displaced 90% of Gaza’s population. Many have returned to their homes to find nothing left and no way of rebuilding.

LONDON — Hamas militants freed three more Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for Israel releasing another 183 Palestinian prisoners as part of the ceasefire agreement between the warring sides.

The latest round of the hostage release took place in the city of Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Saturday morning. Two Red Cross officials took part in a signing ceremony with a Hamas commander on a stage prior to the handover. A banner could be seen on the stage that read in Arabic “We are the flood … We are the day after” and another banner with the words in Hebrew “Absolute victory” alongside an image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s face.

The three Israeli hostages — Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levi — were then escorted one-by-one out of vehicles by Hamas militants and brought onto the stage. All three appeared very thin and weak but able to walk and stand.

Hamas militants eventually escorted the hostages off the stage and into three Red Cross vehicles, which slowly drove away through the crowd of people. Meanwhile, the hostages’ families watched the events unravel on a television in southern Israel and they were seen crying at the sight of their loved ones.

“According to information communicated by the Red Cross, three hostages were transferred to them, and they are on their way to IDF and ISA forces in the Gaza Strip,” a joint statement from the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security Agency read following their departure.

The Red Cross later handed over the three newly-released hostages to IDF and ISA forces in Gaza before they crossed into southern Israel, where they underwent an initial medical assessment as their families waited for them at a hospital.

“Three returning hostages are currently being accompanied by IDF special forces and ISA forces on their return to Israeli territory, where they will undergo an initial medical assessment,” the IDF and ISA said in another joint statement. “The commanders and soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces salute and embrace the returning hostages as they make their way home to the State of Israel. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit asks everyone to respect the privacy of the returning hostages and their families.”

As images of the newly released hostages surfaced, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement saying Netanyahu, who remained in the United States after an official visit to the White House in Washington D.C., “has instructed to not allow the situation to go unaddressed, and to take appropriate measures” because of “the serious condition of the three hostages and the repeated violations by the Hamas terrorist organization.”

In exchange for the three freed hostages, Israel released another 183 Palestinians from its prisons across the country — 72 were transferred to Ramallah and Jerusalem and 111 were transferred to Khan Yunis in southern Gaza Strip. Some of those released appeared frail, including an elderly man on an oxygen tank who had to be carried off one of the buses that arrived in Ramallah.

At least seven of the 72 Palestinian prisoners released in Ramallah and Jerusalem on Saturday were immediately transferred to a hospital, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society. Their conditions were unknown. All 111 of the Palestinian prisoners released in Gaza on Saturday were taken to the European Hospital near Khan Yunis for medical evaluation. Their conditions were also unknown.

ABC News’ Nasser Atta, Jordana Miller, Dana Savir and Samy Zyara contributed to this report.

TEL AVIV — Israel rejoiced Thursday as Hamas militants freed eight more hostages who had been held for more than 15 months in the Gaza Strip, but the day’s tumultuous events underscored the fragility of a cease-fire accord that paused the devastating war in Gaza.

After chaotic scenes unfolded in southern Gaza — where surging crowds surrounded Palestinian gunmen preparing to hand over most of the hostages — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed by hours the agreed-upon release of more than 100 Palestinian prisoners. The standoff was eventually resolved, with buses carrying freed Palestinians finally leaving a West Bank prison as night fell.

President Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, who met in Tel Aviv with previously freed Israeli hostages and the families of some of those still held captive, said he was “hopeful” that the truce, 12 days into its first phase, would continue to hold.

Witkoff said an American was expected to be among the next round of hostages to be freed later this week.

Thursday’s hostage release, the third since the cease-fire took effect on Jan. 19, included a female Israeli soldier, a young female civilian, an elderly man and five Thai nationals — agricultural workers who were caught up in the surprise Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which launched the war.

About 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed on that day in southern Israel, and about 250 taken hostage. Israel’s massive military offensive in Gaza has left much of the enclave in ruins and killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants but say that a majority of the dead are women and children.

As has become customary since this month’s cease-fire took hold, Israelis gathered in a downtown Tel Aviv plaza known as Hostages Square — the locus of months of demonstrations — to watch developments on a giant outdoor video screen. People cheered and wept as the first of them was freed in northern Gaza, a 20-year-old soldier named Agam Berger, who was one of five young female military “spotters” seized at their base near the Gaza frontier on the day of the attack.

As it did with female soldiers freed last week, Hamas staged a choreographed ceremony parading Berger onstage, clad in an olive-drab outfit meant to mimic a military uniform. She appeared composed, however, and soon after was conveyed to the Red Cross and then to waiting Israeli authorities.

Inside Israel, the mood turned tense and fearful when televised and streamed images from southern Gaza began circulating showing enormous crowds in the rubble-strewn landscape of Khan Yunis, outside the destroyed home of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, jostling the masked gunmen who accompanied the remaining hostages. One of them, 29-year-old Arbel Yehoud, looked pale and frightened as she was hustled, sometimes stumbling, through the mass of people.

Before the delayed reciprocal release of the Palestinian prisoners, Netanyahu denounced the “shocking” circumstances of the handover and demanded safety measures for future releases.

“Israel demands that the mediators see to this,” the prime minister said in a statement, referring to the parties who negotiated the cease-fire.

The five freed Thai nationals, whose release fell outside the terms of the cease-fire, were handed over to Thai diplomatic officials in Israel in preparation for being repatriated. About 40 Thai workers, among the thousands who have labored for years under dangerous conditions in farming communities near Gaza, were killed in the Oct. 7 attack.

The Thais released Thursday, all reported to be in good health, were identified by Israel as Watchara Sriaoun, 33; Pongsak Thaenna, 36; Sathian Suwannakham, 35; Surasak Rumnao, 32; and Bannawat Saethao, 27.

Despite national jubilation in Israel over the latest hostage return — which brings to nine the number of Israelis handed over since the start of the current truce — there was a growing sense of foreboding over the fate of those remaining in Gaza. This cease-fire is the first since November of 2023, when about half the hostages were freed.

The accord’s first phase calls for the handover of 33 Israeli captives in all, some of them dual nationals. Hamas has said eight of them are dead, without disclosing theit names.

The Israeli military has been in touch with the families about their loved ones’ status, Israeli news reports said, adding that Israel has particularly pressed for formal word about an Israeli mother, Shiri Bibas, and her two young children.

The cease-fire’s terms called for women and children to be freed first, but Thursday’s release included a man, 80-year-old Gadi Moses. That suggested to many Israelis that there was little hope for Bibas and her two children, red-haired boys whose images are nearly as familiar to compatriots as family photos. The youngest, Kfir, was 9 months old when he was taken; his brother Ariel was 4 years old.

“Today, I’m deliriously happy, but I think soon we will hear news that is going to be very, very sad,” said Aviva Stav, 74, of Tel Aviv, following the news as she walked with her husband near the city’s seafront

Negotiations over the next phase of the cease-fire are expected to be difficult, encompassing the establishment of a permanent cease-fire, the exchange of remaining living hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and a complete withdrawal by Israeli forces.

Of the Palestinians freed Thursday, 30 had been serving life sentences in connection with fatal attacks. Though some of the prisoners were being returned to families in the West Bank, those who were convicted of the most serious offenses were being deported.

The arrival of buses carrying the freed Palestinian prisoners brought scenes of jubilation in the West Bank — but also triggered fresh unrest. At the entrance to Ramallah, the Palestinians’ administrative capital, Palestinian officials reported more than a dozen Palestinians were injured by Israeli police who fired tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds.

A total of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners are to be freed in the truce’s initial phase.

Hamas has released the names of four or more Israeli hostages, which will be a relief to their families in Israel after 15 months of captivity. They are all female soldiers aged either 19 or 20. CBS News foreign correspondent Ramy Inocencio reports.

DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip —  A cease-fire between Hamas and Israel took effect Sunday, silencing the guns over Gaza and renewing hopes of a possible end to a 15-month conflict that has killed tens of thousands and edged the Middle East to all-out regional war.

By late afternoon, an exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners and detainees had begun.

Three hostages were handed over to Israeli forces — the first of 33 expected to be freed over the next six weeks in exchange for some 1,900 Palestinians. Israeli authorities were assembling the first 90 at Ofer prison north of Jerusalem.

The deal follows months of tortuous negotiations led by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, with the Qataris regularly expressing frustration and threatening to walk away at one point.

The precariousness of the deal was highlighted even before the fighting stopped.

The cease-fire had been set for 8:30 a.m. local time, with plans for three female hostages to be exchanged for dozens of Palestinian prisoners later in the day.

But in the hours ahead of the deadline, Hamas failed to send the list of hostage names, prompting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to say there would be no cease-fire unless the information was received. Hamas blamed “technical field issues” for the delay and said it was still committed to the deal.

As the clock struck 8:30, Gaza residents began to celebrate, with thousands in the streets cheering in impromptu parades and aid groups distributing sweets.

Minutes later, with no word from Hamas, the sounds of explosions began to reverberate in the sky.

Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari issued a statement saying Hamas was not “fulfilling its obligations, and contrary to the agreement has not given Israel the names of the hostages.”

“Per the directive of the prime minister, the cease-fire will not take effect as long as Hamas is not fulfilling its obligations,” he said.

“The [Israeli military] is continuing to strike now in Gaza, as long as Hamas is not fulfilling its obligations to the deal.”

Almost two hours later, Hamas announced it had handed the names of the hostages to Qatari mediators. At 11:15 a.m., the cease-fire came into effect. Rescue services in Gaza said 19 people were killed during the delay.

Despite the shaky start, the cease-fire held throughout Sunday, allowing the first detainee exchange to begin around 4:30 p.m. local time.

In Tel Aviv, thousands of Israelis converged on so-called Hostages Square, the courtyard where Israelis have come in repeated demonstrations demanding the government move faster in releasing the hostages. Live broadcasts showed people cheering when news of the hostages’ release came through. They chanted “Everyone, now” — to indicate they wanted all hostages returned.

In Gaza City, thousands of Palestinians gathered in Sarayah Square — the designated handover point.

Hamas fighters armed with assault rifles pushed back the crowds as a convoy of vehicles carrying the three Israeli hostages entered the square. Moments later, the hostages were swiftly transferred to a Red Cross car, which delivered them to the Israeli military.

The hostages were identified as Romi Gonen, 24, kidnapped from the Nova music festival; and Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, both kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza.

The crowd in Sarayah Square was eagerly awaiting the first 90 Palestinians freed in the deal — all women and children.

For Tareq al-Batsh, a 35-year-old taxi driver from the Al-Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza city now living in a shelter in Deir al Balah, relief that the cease-fire had come to pass was tempered by the frustration of not immediately being able to see his relatives in the north. The best he could do for now was call them to celebrate.

“Today’s joy feels incomplete,” he said

His wife, Diana al-Batsh, 30, said the first thing she would do was travel north to hug her parents.

“I regret coming to the south,” she said. “I came here for the children’s safety, but now it feels empty without everyone I love around me.”

They were returning to their home in the north, even though they know it’s partially destroyed. Al-Batsh plans to use tarps to cover holes in the walls as best he can. His wife said they would take some basics with them — mattresses, old clothes, a few essential items — and figure out the rest when they get there.

“We’re afraid this truce could fail at any moment, of course,” she said. “But still, for now we’re cautiously optimistic.”

Azhaar Rasheed al-Mashharawi, a 52-year-old housewife from Gaza’s Al-Shujaiya neighborhood, had been preparing for this moment for the last two days, sifting through belongings and gathering whatever she needed to start cleaning her house.

“I wanted to be ready before anyone else,” she said.

She was looking forward to reuniting with her daughter, 35-year-old Rania, and her six grandchildren.

“I plan to buy some sweets for them. I just want to bring them something nice after everything they’ve been through.”

Nofal Ayyad, a 60-year-old builder also from Al-Shujaiya, said he was happy his family was safe, but he echoed the feelings of many of his neighbors, saying his “happiness will be complete only when I can finally go back home to the north.”

The cease-fire deal is largely similar to what was proposed in May but never materialized. The first phase, which is built on the exchange of 33 hostages — Israelis and some foreigners — for 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, is set to last 42 days.

Of the more than 250 people Hamas and other militant groups kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, a total of 94 remain in Gaza. About a third of those are thought to have died.

As part of the first phase, aid deliveries will surge to 600 trucks per day, a vast increase that will provide much-needed relief at a time when vast swaths of the Strip have been obliterated. Roughly half the trucks will be dedicated for north Gaza, where the destruction is greatest.

On Sunday morning, UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, said 4,000 trucks — half of them carrying food and flour — were ready to enter.

Israel has agreed to withdraw from the Netzarim Corridor — which runs from east to west and bisects the Strip — and Gaza residents can go back to their homes in the enclave’s north. Israeli forces will remain in the Philadephi Corridor between Gaza and Egypt, Netanyahu said.

A little over two weeks into the cease-fire, negotiations are expected begin on phase 2, which includes the release of the remainder of the hostages and eventually a full withdrawal and a permanent cease-fire.

It’s unclear how long those negotiations — which promise to be even thornier than those of the first phase — will continue, but Netanyahu insisted in a statement on Sunday morning that Israel would return to fighting if it concludes “negotiations on Phase 2 are futile.”

Special correspondent Shbair reported from Deir al Balah and Times staff writer Bulos from Beirut.