For the first time in 471 days, Palestinian medics in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip reported no deaths in an Israeli military operation on Monday, as tense truce between Hamas and Israel took his seat. CBS News crews in Israel, Gaza and the occupied West Bank saw more joy — or at least relief — than had been painted on residents’ faces in 15 months.

The ceasefire took effect on Sunday after an initial three-hour delay, during which nearly 20 more Palestinians were killed, according to doctors in the decimated Palestinian territory.

Under the terms of the agreement, which was helped to conclude by the US along with Qatar and Egypt, three Israeli hostages they were released by Hamas on Sunday after the fighting stopped. A little after midnight local time, 90 Palestinian prisoners were released from an Israeli prison in the occupied West Bank.

After more than a year of devastating war sparked by Hamas’s brutal terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, in which militants killed around 1,200 people and kidnapped 251, Gazans on Monday heard instead of the thunder of fighters, the sounds of children playing with jets and airstrikes. attacks, noted Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations agency for the Palestinians, UNRWA, in statement published on social networks.

“Our teams reported a good first day of the ceasefire,” he said, adding that aid and some commercial supplies began flowing smoothly into Gaza on Sunday. Along with the reciprocal release of hostages and prisoners, it is the other main component of the ceasefire agreement. At least 600 aid trucks a day are expected to enter Gaza, carrying everything from desperately needed food and medicine to fuel for generators.

“The ceasefire must continue to be maintained and all elements of the agreement must be implemented,” Lazzarini said. “It is a step in the right direction towards lasting peace and stability for all.”

Palestinians eager to return to their destroyed homes in Gaza

The reconstruction of Gaza will be an incredibly long and expensive process, and it is scheduled to begin in earnest only during the third and final phase a three-phase ceasefire agreementwhich, assuming the deal remains intact, could be months away. However, the Hamas-run Gaza City Municipality announced statement Monday that at least the cleaning of the main roads, which were closed during the war, had begun.

This will help as tens of thousands of displaced civilians scramble back to their towns and villages across the enclave, to assess the damage to their homes and try to make use of whatever they can salvage from the rubble.

Thousands of families started walking or pulling carts from the displacement camps in Gaza City towards the flattened towns and cities of Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip.

They were also returning to the southern city of Rafah, where a CBS News crew spoke with a girl wearing a dress emblazoned with the Palestinian flag.

“This is the moment all the citizens of Gaza have been waiting for,” she said. “Thank God the war is over… It’s time to celebrate after the pain suffered. It’s time to rebuild after all the destruction. The children of Gaza are drawing a new future.”

Civil Protection rescue teams continued to pull out the decomposing bodies of dozens of people killed during the war, both from under the ruins of destroyed buildings and from the streets. The Civil Defense estimated that around 10,000 bodies could still be buried under the rubble of demolished houses in Gaza.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said on Monday that hospitals across the enclave had received the bodies of 122 people recovered since the ceasefire took effect, including 62 pulled from the rubble, bringing the total number of deaths in Gaza since the start of the war to 47,035. The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilian victims, but says the vast majority of those killed were civilians, including tens of thousands of women and children.

Joyful gatherings for 3 Israeli families, we hope for dozens more

The Red Cross convoy that arrived in Gaza City on Sunday was the first sign that Hamas is holding up its end of the bargain. But the surrender of the hostages was chaotic; heavily armed Hamas fighters surrounded the vehicles and climbed over them — a clear display of strength and resilience after more than a year of war against Israel’s vastly superior military.

But soon the world and desperate families back home saw for the first time how the three women were released as they raced between the cars and to freedom.

Held hostage in fear for 15 months by Hamas, 24-year-old Romi Gonen, 31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher and 28-year-old Emily Damari were finally on their way back to the eager arms of their loved ones. The three women – including Damari, an Israeli-British national who lost two fingers during the October 7 attack when she was abducted – were all reunited with their mothers as soon as they arrived in Israel.

“Yesterday I was finally able to hold the Emily I’ve always dreamed of,” Damara’s mother Mandy said in a statement released Monday. “I am relieved to report that after her release, Emily is doing much better than any of us could have expected… In Emily’s own words, she is the happiest girl in the world; she has her life back.”

Even in her moment of overwhelming joy, Mandy Damari stressed that other families are still waiting to share in the joy.

“We also have to keep in mind that 94 hostages still remain,” she said. “The ceasefire must continue and every last hostage must be returned to their families.”

Hundreds of Israelis watching from Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square also shared in the joy Sunday night – including some whose loved ones had not made it out of Hamas captivity – or had not yet.

Among the abductees was Gil Dickmann’s cousin, Carmel Gat. Her body was found during an Israeli military operation at the beginning of September. Nevertheless, Dickmann regularly attended the protests in Hostage Square calling for the return of dozens of others. He told CBS News that when he saw the women get out of the vehicle on Sunday, he could hardly believe it.

“My God, it’s them,” he said to himself. “All people around the world should have this joy – people coming home alive. It’s still the happiest thing you can ever, ever experience.”

Celebrations in the West Bank after the release of Palestinian prisoners

There was jubilation and celebration late Sunday night in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as 90 Palestinian detainees, mostly women, were released in exchange for freed hostages.

“They treated us like animals,” said 18-year-old Rose Quis.

“I left hell and now I’m in heaven,” Abdelaziz Atawneh said after leaving Israel’s Ofer prison, not far from the West Bank city of Ramallah.

The freed prisoners were greeted by fireworks, boos and shouts of “God is great”, and many were hoisted on the shoulders of the huge crowd that had gathered outside the prison – many of whom had been waiting all day for their release.

According to a list provided by the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank, all those released in the early hours of Monday morning were women or teenagers, the youngest just 15 years old. Israel has imprisoned them, many of them without formal charges, for alleged crimes ranging from stone-throwing to attempted murder.

The next hostage-for-prisoner exchange is scheduled to take place on Saturday under the ceasefire agreement, with four hostages to be freed in exchange for around 120 Palestinian prisoners. In total, 33 Israeli hostages are scheduled to be released during the first six-week phase of the deal.

contributed to this report.