Israel frees 90 Palestinian prisoners in Gaza ceasefire deal

The first 90 Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel under the terms of the Gaza ceasefire deal were freed hours after an agreement took effect on Sunday.

The prisoners’ release deal is aimed at halting the fighting that has devastated the coastal territory, local media cited Israeli authorities as confirming.

Local media outlets, including the Times of Israel, cited the prison authority as confirming the release, saying that most of the freed prisoners were women and minors.

The majority of the detainees come from the West Bank, while others are from East Jerusalem, according to the reports.

Palestinian media showed footage and pictures of what they said were released prisoners arriving in Ramallah.

Also on Sunday, the Palestinian militant organisation Hamas released the first three Israeli hostages as part of the ceasefire agreement.

The three hostages were women – named by the Israeli military as Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher.

They were transferred by the Palestinian militant group Hamas to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Sunday afternoon.

They were then transferred to Israeli forces and transported to a hospital in Tel Aviv, where they were greeted by family.

A Hamas spokesman confirmed that four more Israeli hostages would be released next Saturday.

Part of the deal is to exchange 33 hostages for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails over six weeks.

Following months of stalemate in the 15-month Gaza war, a three-stage ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was brokered on Wednesday.

The ceasefire caps months-long efforts by the United States, Egypt and Qatar to mediate between the warring parties.

The first stage of the ceasefire agreement also foresees the Israeli military withdrawing from densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip.