The delicate four-day process to release 50 hostages held by Hamas and 150 Palestinians in Israeli jails has begun, after seven weeks of bloodshed in the region.
Authorities announced the various transfers would begin at 4pm local time Friday (1am AEDT Saturday). They were expected to take several hours.
On day one of a temporary ceasefire, Israel planned to use a helicopter to repatriate 13 women and children who were taken by Hamas last month. Among the first priorities was to have them assessed by doctors.
The complex blueprint included 39 Palestinian prisoners — mainly women and teenaged boys — being dropped in the West Bank on Friday.
Egypt said it had also already secured the release of 12 Thai hostages and the Thai prime minister confirmed embassy officials were on their way to receive them.
It is a significant milestone in the war, which has raged since Hamas’s attack on October 7.
In Tel Aviv’s so-called Hostage Square, a large crowd gathered and began singing around the time the transfer was due to begin.
The songs were a bright spot on an otherwise subdued afternoon in the area in the city’s centre, which has been used to raise awareness about the plight of those taken by Hamas.
An IDF soldier, who did not want be named, said he had only recently returned from Gaza but felt it was important to come.
“I didn’t think I would react the way I’m reacting right now,” he said.
“None of my friends were kidnapped or killed, but it still feels like it’s a part of me.”
Israel says the terror group captured 240 people in its ambush. It has offered to extend the break in hostilities if more hostages are freed.
However, a permanent end to the war is out of the question in the medium term.
According to an Israeli government statement released on Thursday, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told troops the ceasefire would be “short” and that fighting in Gaza would continue “with intensity” for at least two months.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says more than 14,000 people have been killed since the war began — a number that does not include the 1,200 that Israeli authorities say were murdered during the October 7 attack.
After the ceasefire began on Friday, dozens of trucks loaded with humanitarian aid rumbled across the Rafah crossing into the Gaza Strip from Egypt. It is expected about 200 vehicles a day will make the trip.
After seven weeks of fighting, the ceasefire has been welcomed by many in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
In the West Bank city of Ramallah, local man Mustafa Mizmakana said the pause was “a good thing for everybody”.
“We are human beings, I don’t want to say Palestinians or Israelis, I’m talking about everybody,” he said.
“No-one is happy seeing people getting killed.”
UN Relief and Workers Agency Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said he saw “unspeakable suffering” during a visit to Gaza.
“People are exhausted and are losing hope in humanity,” he said.
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