Hamas fighters released 24 hostages - including 13 Israelis, 10 Thais and one Filipino - on the first day of the war's first truce, Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman said. Mediator Qatar said 39 Palestinians have also been released from Israeli jails, 24 women and 15 children are reported to be among them.

Nine hours after guns fell silent for the first time in seven weeks, the International Red Cross said it had begun an operation to facilitate the transfer of hostages in Gaza to Israel in return for Palestinians held in Israeli jails. It later said 24 hostages had been freed in Gaza.

"The deep pain that family members separated from their loved ones feel is indescribable. We are relieved that some will be reunited after long agony," said Fabrizio Carboni, the International Committee of the Red Cross's regional director for the Near and Middle East.

Israeli media reported that 13 women and children had been handed over to the Red Cross and to an Egyptian security team assisting their release. The Israeli government and Hamas did not immediately confirm this.

READ MORE

What we know about the Israel-Hamas truce deal

German police raid pro-Palestinian and far right properties

Sweden threatens to deport law-breaking immigrants

Thailand's Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin confirmd in a social media post that a group of 12 Thai farm workers had also been freed. A source briefed on the negotiations said the release of the Thais, who were all men, was unrelated to the truce negotiations and followed a separate track of talks with Hamas mediated by Qatar and Egypt.

Deeply traumatized women and children

They are due to be flown home under military guard. The Israeli soldiers are being carefully prepared to receive potentially deeply traumatized women and children. After medical examinations, the former captives will be able to telephone family members before reunions later at Israeli medical facilities, an Israeli official said.

Reporters have confirmed the identities of 210 of the roughly 240 hostages taken by Hamas fighters on October 7. A total of 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners are to be freed under the four-day truce, though Israel has said the ceasefire could be extended if Hamas continues to release hostages at a rate of at least 10 per day. 

A Palestinian source has said up to 100 hostages could go free.

'Safe environment for hostage release'

The agreement entailed a "complete ceasefire with no attacks from the air or the ground" and the skies clear of drones to "allow for the hostage release to happen in a safe environment," Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al Ansari said.

Palestinian prisoners will be freed from three jails in Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, then taken to the Ofer military camp on buses, an Israeli official told journalists on condition of anonymity. Ahead of the release, relatives and supporters of the captives gathered at a plaza in Tel Aviv adorned with their photos, stuffed toys, and a long table set up as if for a banquet, each chair bearing the label "hostage."

The pause triggered a mass movement of thousands of Gazans who had sought refuge in schools and hospitals from relentless Israeli bombardment. In Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza where many Palestinians fled, a cacophony of car horns and ambulance sirens has replaced the sound of war.

Israel's retaliatory air, artillery and naval strikes alongside a ground offensive have killed about 15,000 people, including at least 6,000 children, the Hamas government in Gaza said.

Gazans have struggled to survive with shortages of water and other essentials. Trucks carrying more aid, including fuel, gas, and food, began moving into Gaza from the Rafah crossing with Egypt shortly after the truce began at 5:00 am GMT.

Jens Laerke, spokesman for the United Nations humanitarian agency, OCHA, expressed hope in Geneva that the pause "leads to a longer-term humanitarian ceasefire for the benefit of the people of Gaza, Israel and beyond."

He repeated the need for access across Gaza, especially in the north "where the damage and the humanitarian needs are the greatest."

'We don't know if our homes still stand'

According to the UN, 1.7 million of Gaza's 2.4 million people are estimated to have been displaced by the fighting. Now, thousands of them are trying to get home. In Khan Yunis, they loaded belongings onto carts, strapped them to car roofs, or slung bags over their shoulders, crowding streets to return to their homes from temporary shelters.

Israeli warplanes dropped leaflets warning people that the war is not over and it is "very dangerous" to return north, the focus of Israel's military campaign.

But Abd el-Salam Matar, in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, said he wanted to go back to Gaza City. "I hope I can reach it," he said. "We don't know if our homes still stand, but we hope."

The truce was also a chance for some Palestinians to return to Gaza through the Rafah crossing. In the morning, a few apparent gunshots could be heard and dark plumes of smoke rose periodically over northern Gaza, but the truce appeared to be holding in the afternoon.

Further north, on the Lebanon-Israel border, calm also returned after regular deadly exchanges of fire, primarily between the Israeli army and Hezbollah.

Subscribe to Storyboard: A weekly newsletter bringing you the best of CGTN every Friday