Three Israeli hostages have been released in exchange for 90 Palestinian detainees on the first day of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip agreed by Israel and Hamas. The first day of the agreement saw a halt in fighting, the prisoner swap and truckloads of aid flowing into the war-stricken enclave after 15 months of war.
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00:00A joyous reunion at a hospital in Tel Aviv, three Israeli hostages returned to their families
00:11after more than 15 months in captivity in Gaza.
00:19Taken on October 7, these three women were the first hostages released by Hamas fighters
00:24as part of the ceasefire deal agreed with Israel.
00:27There were emotional scenes as the first images of the exchange were broadcast.
00:34I'm super excited.
00:38This is the first time we've seen her since that day, October 7, and we didn't have any
00:49signal for life from her for a whole year now.
00:55And this is the first time we've seen her, and we've seen her walking on her two feet,
01:01and we're just waiting here to hug her and say how much we love her.
01:07It's a beautiful day.
01:10After so long, we got a beautiful day.
01:13There is three hostages, young hostages, returning home.
01:18Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on the phone during the exchange and had
01:22his officers pass on a message directly to the released hostages.
01:42Also heading home, 90 Palestinians who were detained in Israeli jails, released in exchange
01:47for the three Israeli hostages.
01:50Some of these prisoners, as young as 15 years old.
01:59Emotional crowds surrounded the bus carrying them into the occupied West Bank, where they
02:03were reunited with their families.
02:49Palestinian prisoners will be sent home in return for 30 more of the 91 Israeli hostages
02:54that remain in Gaza.
02:56It's one of the biggest prisoner exchange deals in modern history.
03:00Fighting was halted in Gaza to make way for the prisoner swap after mediators from the
03:04US, Egypt and Qatar negotiated an agreement between Israel and Hamas.
03:09The ceasefire was delayed by a few hours as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
03:13alleged Hamas had not provided the names of the hostages to be released in time.
03:19But after finally taking effect, outgoing US President Joe Biden, on his last day in
03:24office, acknowledged the work is far from over.
03:27Today's ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages is a result of a principled and
03:33effective policy that we presided over for months.
03:37And we got here without a wider war in the Middle East than many predicted.
03:41And now it falls to the next administration to help implement this deal.
03:45As agreed, much needed aid is now flowing into Gaza through its border with Egypt.
03:50600 truckloads will be allowed in every day of the initial six-week ceasefire.
03:55Half will be directed into the enclave's north, where warnings have been raised that a famine
03:59is imminent.
04:01You can see behind me, we have now goods coming.
04:05We can make sure that 1.1 million people that are on food crisis can get the right
04:11assistance.
04:12They are able to go back to where they belong, and we will be able to serve them and follow
04:17them with what needs to be a long-lasting ceasefire.
04:21But uncertainty remains, as one wrong move from either side could end the truce.
04:27For now, Palestinians in Gaza are grateful for a halt in fighting.
04:31But after 15 months of bloodshed and destruction, with their homes reduced to rubble, the task
04:37ahead is overwhelming.
04:39Scott Huang and Rosie Greninja for Taiwan Plus.