Gaza Ceasefire Takes Effect: First Three Israeli Hostages Freed as Biden Says 'The Guns in Gaza Have Gone Silent'
On January 19, 2025, the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas formally took effect, pausing more than 15 months of war in the Gaza Strip. The truce, scheduled to begin in the morning, was delayed about three hours after Hamas was late providing the list of the first hostages to be released, and began at 11:15 a.m. local time.
That day Hamas released the first three Israeli hostages through the Red Cross: Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31. The three women were seized during Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and had been held for 470 days. Early the next day, Israel freed 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
The first phase of the deal runs 42 days: Hamas is to release 33 hostages in stages, Israel is to free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, Israeli forces are to withdraw from Gaza's populated areas, and increased humanitarian aid is to enter Gaza. As President Joe Biden described it that day, four more women would be released after seven days and three additional hostages every seven days thereafter, including at least two American citizens in the first phase; talks on the second phase, covering the release of Israeli soldiers and a permanent end to the war, were to begin on the 16th day.
Speaking in North Charleston, South Carolina, Biden said the deal he first put forward the previous May had finally come to fruition: "After so much pain, destruction, and loss of life, today the guns in Gaza have gone silent." He said the deal had been endorsed unanimously by the U.N. Security Council.
The agreement was mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt and approved by Israel's cabinet on January 18. January 19 was Biden's last full day in office; President-elect Donald Trump's team had also joined the final push for the agreement.
(Source: The White House)
Source: The White House
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：以色列空军CH-53直升机在停机坪待命、准备接应获释人质（2025年1月19日）。图：以色列国防军发言人单位，CC BY-SA 3.0，via Wikimedia Commons / Photo: An Israeli Air Force CH-53 helicopter prepared to receive released hostages on January 19, 2025. Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
