Israeli hostage release live updates: 90 Palestinian prisoners released from Ofer prison in Israel hours after Hamas freed 3 female hostages
Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners about seven hours after the first hostages held in Gaza for the past 15 months were freed.
Large white buses carried the detainees out from Israel’s Ofer prison, which is just outside the West Bank city of Ramallah, as Palestinians in the streets celebrated.
The prisoners let go are women and children, according to a list from the Palestinian Authority’s Commission for Prisoners’ Affairs.
Three Israeli hostages freed on first day of cease-fire: What to know
- January 19, 2025, marked the first day of the historic cease-fire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.
- Three female Israeli hostages were released as part of the deal and all three were seen greeted by IDF soldiers before being reunited with their families and loved ones.
- They were later airlifted to a hospital and Tel Hashomer Hospital Director Dr. Yael Frankel-Nir?declared them all in “good” condition, per the Times of Israel.
- All three hostages were given “gift bags” from Hamas to mark their time in captivity. The bags contained “gifts and souvenirs,” which included photos of them in captivity, a commemorative photo of Gaza itself, and some kind of certificate, the Israeli outlet Ynet reported.
Emily Damari
Doron Steinbrecher
Romi Gonen
The first three Hamas hostages, who have been in captivity for 15 months, were handed over to the Red Cross in a historic moment on the first day of the cease-fire between Israel and the terror group.
Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher were named as the first 3 people who would be released on Sunday — as officials expect 30 more hostages to be released from Hamas captivity, but a timeline was not announced on the releases.
Each hostage released by Hamas so far was reportedly given “gift bags” commemorating their terror captivity.
The bags contained some kind of “certificate,” along with photos from their time in captivity, according to the Times of Israel.
All three hostages were seen carrying the same brown paper bag when they were handed over to the Red Cross Sunday.
The cease-fire, which was meant to go into effect at 1:30 a.m., was delayed after Hamas failed to deliver a list of the 33 hostages set to be released as part of the first phase of the deal.
The delay caused the war to continue into Sunday morning until the terror group finally delivered the list, with hostages Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher set to be freed today.
In turn, Israel has put together a list of 90 Palestinian prisoners, including men and women, who will be released in exchange for the hostages.
On the seventh day of the cease-fire, Hamas is scheduled to make its next exchange, freeing another four hostages.
Follow The Post’s live updates as three hostages are slated to be released from Gaza on Sunday amid the Israel and Hamas ceasefire deal.
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