After 15 months of collective grief and anxiety, three Israeli hostages left Hamas captivity and returned to Israel, and dozens of Palestinian prisoners walked free from Israeli jail, leaving both Israelis and Palestinians torn between celebration and trepidation as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold Sunday. The skies above Gaza and Israel were silent for the first time in over a year, and Palestinians began returning to what was left of the homes they fled across the war-ravaged enclave, started to check on relatives left behind and, in many cases, to bury their dead. After months of tight Israeli restrictions, more than 600 trucks carrying humanitarian aid rolled into the devastated territory, the AP reports.
In the occupied West Bank, the mood was initially subdued as the Israeli military warned that public celebrations for the released prisoners would be punished. But scuffles with Israeli security forces and hours of waiting did little to deter the crowds that flooded the streets around 1am, as large white buses carrying 90 Palestinian detainees—all women or teens—exited the gates of Ofer prison, near the West Bank city of Ramallah. Drivers revved their engines in celebration. Fireworks erupted. Several men climbed on top of the bus and hoisted three Hamas flags. "God is greater!" the crowds shouted. The next release of hostages and prisoners is due Saturday. (See images of the Israeli hostages embracing their mothers.)
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