The three female hostages were released as part of the phased ceasefire agreement Israel and Hamas reached last week.

Israel has freed 90 Palestinian prisoners as part of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, coinciding with the return of three Israeli captives.

The ceasefire came into effect Sunday after an initial three-hour delay, during which almost 20 more Palestinians were killed, according to medics in the decimated Palestinian territory. Under the terms of the deal,

Gaza’s Palestinian Civil Defence agency says it has pulled 137 bodies of those killed in Israeli attacks from under rubble since the start of the ceasefire in Rafah alone. An estimated 10,000 bodies are buried under the concrete wasteland in Gaza.

Palestinians returning to their homes are finding them destroyed, with neighbourhoods reduced entirely to rubble.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday vowed Gaza would never again pose a threat to Israel, as a tense calm prevailed on the second day of a truce in the Palestinian territory.Three Israeli hostages,

Emotional scenes are unfolding as Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners are reunited with their families.

A long-awaited ceasefire has started in Gaza following a three-hour delay, bringing respite to the besieged enclave after a bloody 15 months. Follow for live updates.

Israel said the ceasefire will not begin until Hamas supplies a list of the hostages held by Hamas who are slated to be returned to Israel on Sunday.

Hamas has released the first three Israeli female hostages after the Gaza ceasefire took effect on Sunday, January 19.

A team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza is on its way to collect Israeli hostages from Hamas, an official involved in the operation told Reuters