The first three hostages released from Gaza have arrived in Israel, the military announced Sunday, hours after the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold. Their mothers were waiting to meet them.

Footage showed the three women walking to Red Cross vehicles in Gaza City, surrounded by a crowd that swelled into the thousands as people held up cellphones and scrambled onto cars. The vehicles were accompanied by masked, armed men who wore green Hamas headbands and struggled to guard the handover.

No further glimpses of the three women were immediately expected as they were taken for medical assessment. "They appear to be in good health," President Joe Biden said in brief remarks.

In Tel Aviv, thousands of people who gathered to watch the news on large screens erupted in applause. For months, many had gathered in the square to demand a ceasefire deal. Relatives of the women jumped, clapped and wept.

"An entire nation embraces you," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were released. Gonen was abducted from the Nova music festival, while the others were kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Damari is an Israeli-British dual citizen and Steinbrecher has Israeli and Romanian citizenship.

The ceasefire ushers in an initial six weeks of calm and raises hopes for the release of nearly 100 remaining hostages and an end to the devastating 15-month war. A last-minute delay by Hamas put off the truce’s start by nearly three hours, but the spokesman for Hamas’ military wing later said it is committed to the ceasefire.

Even before the ceasefire took effect, celebrations broke out across Gaza and some Palestinians began heading home.

Next up was the release of 90 Palestinian prisoners later Sunday. In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, families and friends gathered excitedly as cars honked and people waved the Palestinian flag.

The truce, which started at 11:15 a.m. local time, is the first step toward ultimately ending the conflict and returning hostages abducted in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack.

In the interim between the planned ceasefire time and when it took hold, Israeli fire killed at least 26 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It did not say whether they were civilians or fighters. The military has warned people to stay away from Israeli forces as they retreat to a buffer zone inside Gaza.

Israel’s hard-line national security minister, meanwhile, said his Jewish Power faction was quitting the government in protest over the ceasefire. Itamar Ben-Gvir’s departure weakens Netanyahu’s coalition but will not affect the truce.

In a separate development, Israel announced it had recovered the body of Oron Shaul, a soldier killed in the 2014 Israel-Hamas war, in a special operation in Gaza. The bodies of Shaul and another soldier, Hadar Goldin, had remained after the 2014 war.

What’s next

The ceasefire deal was announced last week after a year of mediation by the United States, Qatar and Egypt. The outgoing Biden administration and President-elect Donald Trump’s team had both pressed for an agreement to be reached before the inauguration on Monday.

Netanyahu on Saturday warned that he had Trump’s backing to continue fighting if necessary.

The 42-day first phase of the ceasefire should see 33 hostages gradually returned and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees released. The next release of hostages is expected on Saturday.

There also should be a surge of humanitarian aid, with hundreds of trucks entering Gaza daily, far more than Israel allowed before. The U.N. World Food Program said trucks started entering through two crossings. Biden’s top Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, said that 800 trucks were expected to flow in Sunday.

This is just the second ceasefire in the war, longer and more consequential than a weeklong pause in November 2023, with the potential to end the fighting for good.

Negotiations on the ceasefire’s far more difficult second phase should begin in just over two weeks. Major questions remain, including whether the war will resume after the first phase.