Gaza ceasefire live updates: Palestinian leader among those freed as ceasefire enters second day

Hamas has released three Israeli hostages and Israel has freed 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees as the ceasefire in Gaza enters its second day. Follow live.

Key Events

1. Question: What's the difference between a 'hostage' and a 'prisoner'?

2. Analysis: Will ceasefire hold?

3. Time for an independent Palestinian state, says UAE diplomatic adviser

UN says more than 630 aid trucks have entered the Gaza Strip

United Nations humanitarian officials say that more than 630 trucks of humanitarian aid have entered the besieged Gaza Strip, in implementation of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

In a post on social media platform X, Tom Fletcher, the United Nations under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs said that over 630 trucks entered Gaza on Sunday, with at least 300 of them bringing humanitarian assistance into the north.

Trucks carrying aid wait at the Rafah border crossing (Reuters: Mohamed Abd El Ghany)

"There is no time to lose," Fletcher wrote.

"After 15 months of relentless war, the humanitarian needs are staggering."

The Gaza ceasefire deal, which began Sunday with an initial phase lasting six weeks, calls for the entry into Gaza of 600 trucks carrying humanitarian relief daily.

Over the course of the deal’s first stage, 33 Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity in Gaza will also be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Reporting with AP

Question: What's the difference between a 'hostage' and a 'prisoner'?

We've had a couple of questions about the language being used to describe Israeli "hostages" and Palestinian "prisoners".

To be precise, the Palestinians being released as part of the ceasefire exchanges are either prisoners or detainees.

The Israelis are hostages. Hostages is the term used when someone is taken captive in order to get something in return, not because of something they personally did.

The Israelis were taken hostage by Hamas and other Palestinian militants in order to achieve the release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons.

Not all of the Palestinians being released in the exchange taking place as part of this ceasefire are actually prisoners.

Many are what Israel calls "administrative detainees". This is when Israel imprisons people without charges, without trial and without conviction. An Israeli military judge can renew the administrative detention based on secret evidence that the detainee's lawyer is not allowed to see. The Israeli army says it is preventative measure.

For further reading, this is how the Jerusalem-based human-rights group B'Tselem defines it.

In Sunday's release, many of the people released were administrative detainees. The outspoken politician, Khalida Jarrar, the most high-profile person released Sunday, was an administrative detainee.

As part of the first phase of this ceasefire, Hamas says it will release 33 hostages. It's not known if they're all alive.

Israel is expected to release more than 700 prisoners and administrative detainees as part of the deal. The exact numbers are expected to fluctuate a little for several reasons.

It's important to note: not all the Palestinians being released are administrative detainees. The prisoners convicted of crimes are all what Israel calls "security prisoners".

They are convicted of what Israel considers nationalistic crimes, such as killing for nationalist reasons, being an activist in a militant organisation, posting on social media posts which support organisations that fight Israel. Convicted Palestinians in Israeli prisons for non-nationalist reasons were not requested by Hamas to be on the list.

As part of phase one of the ceasefire deal Israel is also going to be releasing a further 1,167 Palestinians detained in the Gaza Strip during the IDF's invasion.

Critics have accused Israeli authorities of detaining Palestinians during the war simply because they knew they'd have currency in a potential future exchange. Israel denies this.

Analysis: Will ceasefire hold?

Right, we're almost one full day into this ceasefire, and despite Israel and Hamas saying they're committed to it, there's already speculation it won't last.

While we don't have a crystal ball, we do have some information that could offer clues as to what the future holds.

The ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel is pretty complicated. Both have made it clear they're prepared to restart attacks if even small elements of it are not adhered to.

The United States has been seen as instrumental in helping to broker the deal. The outgoing Biden administration and incoming Trump team have both made it clear their expectation that this ceasefire eventually becomes permanent.

US President-elect Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. (Reuters: Mohammed Salem)

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's rhetoric about the agreement has made it sound like less of a ceasefire and more of a hostage deal. He made it clear at the weekend that Israel could restart it's attacks in Gaza.

Over the course of the 15-month war, Mr Netanyahu has repeatedly said the fighting will only stop once a "total victory" is achieved over Hamas.

The militant group, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by the Australian government, has undeniably been weakened. Its most senior figures have been killed, as well as hundreds of its fighters.

I'm not sure if you saw the pictures from Gaza yesterday, but there still appears to be plenty left. At one point, they even held an impromptu parade on the streets of Deir Al-Balah, in the territory's south.

If "total victory" is still Mr Netanyahu's benchmark, then we have to consider the possibility that this war could be restarted.

Hamas militants stage a parade after the ceasefire in Gaza. (Reuters: Mohammed Salem)

John Lyons reflects on what he's seen over the past 24 hours

ABC's Global affairs editor John Lyons is in Jerusalem and is reflecting on the last 24 hours.

He said there was "some wonderful human moments" yesterday during the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinians prisoner and detainees.

"It cut through the politics, the hatreds, the enmities and the history in this region," he said.

He says that now it is the beginning of the next phase, including the monumental task of rebuilding Gaza.

Watch it here:

'Female prisoners are strong' says released Palestinian

Dania Hanatsheh is Palestinian who was released by Israel yesterday after being held for five months.

She said the situation in the prisons was "bad before" but became worse after the Israel-Hamas war.

"The female prisoners are strong, and they are trying to do the impossible from inside the jail," she said.

"The situation is bad on female prisoners and all the prisoners."

Dania Hanatsheh spoke to Reuters on life inside the Israeli prisons. (Reuters: Video footage)

Time for an independent Palestinian state, says UAE diplomatic adviser

UAE diplomatic adviser Anwar Gargash has welcomed the Gaza ceasefire and hit out at Western governments and media.

"Most infuriating was hearing, 'according to the Gaza health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians,' as if war and bombings do," he wrote.

"Time for an independent Palestinian state."

The UAE rarely criticises Israel or Western countries, with whom it has good relations.

What we know about the three Israeli hostages

Yesterday in Israel, three women became the first hostages to be released as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, reuniting with their loved ones after 15 months in captivity.

The women were among about 250 taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

The three released are:

Emily Damari, 28

Released British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari embraces her mother, Mandy. (Israel Defense Forces/Handout via Reuters)

Romi Gonen, 24

Romi Gonen embraces by her mother, Meirav. (Courtesy of Israel Defense Forces/Handout via Reuters)

Doron Steinbrecher, 31

Doron Steinbrecher reunites with her family after being released. (Maayan Toaf/GPO/Handout via Reuters)

My colleague Jessica Riga has more on everything we know about the three girls, which you can read here:

'I left hell and now I'm in heaven,' says Palestinian reunited with family

One of the Palestinians freed, Abdulaziz Atawneh, told Reuters that he was now "in heaven" before being hugged and welcomed by his relatives.

"I left hell and now I'm in heaven, we are out of hell," he said.

He further explained what it was like living in an Israel prison:

"They used to violate us, beat us, fire tear gas toward us. They used to count us while our heads were down on the floor. Suddenly they would enter the cells and fire gas toward us. They say bad words at us. There is no food, no sweets, no salt. There is nothing."

Watch it here: 

WATCH: Palestine leader Khalida Jarrar freed

As we reported earlier, Palestinian leader Khalida Jarrar was one of the most high-profile names on the list of Palestinian prisoners released early this morning.

Jarrar is a politician and member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Palestinian Legislative Council.

She was detained in December 2023, and has been held by Israeli authorities since, but hasn't actually been charged with anything.

Here's some new footage of Jarrar reuniting with loved ones:

Welcome to our Israel-Hamas ceasefire day two coverage

Hello, I'm Maddy Morwood, and I'll be joining you this afternoon as we continue our live coverage of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

It's currently 6am in Gaza, which takes us into the second day of the ceasefire.

Here's a quick summary of what happened on the first day:

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced the ceasefire in Gaza would begin at 11:15am, local time (or 8:15pm AEDT).

• Hours later, three Israeli hostages were released by Hamas and reunited with their families in Tel Aviv.

• In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees were released from Israeli jails in the West Bank and welcomed by crowds and their families.

• Palestinians in Gaza began returning home to destruction and devastation as they sought out what was left of their houses and neighbourhoods.

• Aid trucks began arriving via two border crossings into Gaza to provide vital food and supplies to the population of 2 million, most of whom are severely food insecure.

Alternatively, you can read our full day one coverage here.