REUTERSHamas released three Israeli hostages and Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners on Sunday, the first day of a ceasefire suspending a 15-month-old war that has devastated the Gaza Strip and inflamed the Middle East. Fireworks were launched in celebration as buses carrying the Palestinian prisoners arrived in Ramallah on the West Bank, where thousands of people waited to welcome them. Those freed from Israeli prisons included 69 women and 21 teenage boys from the West Bank and Jerusalem, according to Hamas. They were among more than 250 people abducted and 1,200 killed in a Hamas raid on Israel on Oct 7, 2023, Israel has said. Israel blamed Hamas for being late to deliver the names of hostages it would free, and said it had struck terrorists.

Source: bd News24 January 20, 2025 08:44 UTC