( JTA) — TEL AVIV — “They are in our hands,” IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said on the huge screen that was broadcasting the tense release of the three hostages returned to Israel, Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher.

Watch again as crowds gathered in Tel Aviv as the Israel and Hamas ceasefire saw the first hostages released on Sunday (19 January) after 470 days. The first three hostage were handed over to the Red Cross,

And three female hostages were handed over by Hamas to the Red Cross just after 5 p.m. local time, to be taken to Israel. In Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, a crowd cheered and clapped as the news came in that the hostages were in Red Cross custody.

Eight more hostages were freed from the Gaza Strip by Hamas-led militants on Thursday in a sometimes chaotic process that briefly delayed Israel's release of 110 Palestinian prisoners and underscored

Militants in the Gaza Strip released eight hostages on Thursday, handing them over to the Red Cross amid chaotic crowds as part of a swap that is set to see 110 Palestinians released from Israeli

Hamas freed three Israelis and five Thai nationals in exchange for more than 100 Palestinians. But the militant group struggled to control crowds, prompting a delay.

Hamas has released Israeli soldier Agam Berger to the Red Cross in Gaza, marking the first of eight hostages set to be freed as part of an ongoing ceasefire between Israel and the group. Berger, 20, was among five female soldiers abducted during Hamas ' October 7 attack, with the others freed days earlier.

Militants in the Gaza Strip released eight hostages on Thursday (Jan 30), handing them over to the Red Cross amid chaotic crowds as part of a swap that is set to see 110 Palestinians released from Israeli prisons later in the day.

Israeli hostage Arbel Yehud has been handed over to the Red Cross, Israel's channel 12 said, as footage showed her surrounded by a surging crowd and armed Palestinian militants in a chaotic scene in southern Gaza on Thursday.

"Thank you for saving the hostages," someone called to him from the crowd, while a chant went up in English to "bring them home."

The returning hostage, IDF soldier Agam Berger, has crossed into Israeli territory and "is currently on her way to an initial reception point in southern Israel," the report reads