In the first exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners under the cease-fire agreement reached in January 2025, three Israeli women return to Israel, and 90 Palestinian security prisoners are taken to the West Bank town of Betunia. Each side celebrates the return of those held. In Israel, several government officials condemn the cease-fire deal and exchange, while others insist that nothing should stand in the path of return the remaining 94 hostages or their bodies held by Hamas. The exchange fulfills the early part of the three phases of the Hamas-Israel cease-fire. The first phase is scheduled to last 33 days. Enormous skepticism exists in Israel that the full agreement will be implemented, whereby Hamas will release all the hostages and extend the cease-fire for some unknown duration. The cease-fire terms include a large expansion of humanitarian supplies into Gaza.
