First hostages released, some IDF troops withdraw from Gaza as Israel-Hamas ceasefire begins

IDF Givati Brigade leaving Gaza
Israeli troops from the Givati Brigade leave northern Gaza in the wake of the ceasefire after completing several months of fighting. (IDF)

The Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal, which was hammered out in Qatar in the first two weeks of January, began on the morning of January 19. The Israeli government scrambled to approve the framework for the deal and was able to get support from most of the governing coalition’s members in time for the first hostages to be released.

Israel received the list of hostages to be freed on January 19, and Brigadier General (Res) Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for the hostages and the missing, notified the families. Israel has dubbed the hostage releases “Operation Wings of Freedom.” Three women were released in the late afternoon, including 24-year-old Romi Gonen, 28-year-old Emily Damari, and 31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher. Damari holds both Israeli and UK citizenship.

The deal’s first phase is expected to last six weeks and include the release of 33 hostages. Israel has demanded that Hamas free living women hostages first and that other humanitarian cases of elderly male hostages and two children held captive are part of the first phase. In addition, two hostages held by Hamas since 2014, Avera Mengistu and Hisham Sayed, are expected to be released at the end of the deal. Israel is expected to free up to 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Hamas is releasing the hostages once a week, and the second release is expected on January 25. In addition, Israel and Hamas are expected to begin discussions, supported by mediators from Doha and Cairo and US envoy Steve Witkoff, in the second phase of the deal. These talks were set to start on February 4. However, they may commence earlier.

Witkoff, who US President Donald Trump appointed as his special envoy to the Middle East in November, played a key role in getting the hostage deal signed in the two weeks leading up to Trump’s inauguration. Since then, Witkoff has applauded the release of the first three hostages and expressed hopes for wider discussions in the region about countries normalizing ties with Israel.

As the ceasefire began, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) started executing its plans to redeploy forces from Gaza. The IDF had the 162nd Division in northern Gaza on the eve of the ceasefire. It withdrew the Kfir Brigade in early January, but the division maintains two deployed infantry brigades and an armored brigade. In addition, the IDF has a division consisting of two brigades in the Netzarim Corridor and forces along the Philadelphi Corridor in southern Gaza along the border with Egypt. The IDF is expected to withdraw from the Netzarim Corridor during the first phase and redeploy forces in northern Gaza back to the Israeli border.

The ceasefire provided the opportunity for IDF Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi to submit his resignation on January 21. Halevi said he resigned to take responsibility for the IDF’s failures on October 7. He had waited over the last year for this moment because Israeli forces were involved in intense operations on multiple fronts, and the ceasefire and hostage deal provided a window for the defense minister and Israel to select a replacement. It is supposed to happen by March 6, when Halevi expects to end his posting. The IDF’s head of Southern Command, Major General Yaron Finkelman, also resigned. Several other key IDF officers have also resigned since the October 7 debacle. 

Additional IDF units began withdrawing due to the ceasefire. On January 20, the Nahal Brigade wrapped up operations in Beit Hanoun. “Over the past year and three months, the brigade has operated in dozens of areas in the Gaza Strip, eliminating hundreds of terrorists, dismantling terrorist infrastructure, and locating and confiscating thousands of weapons,” the IDF said. The IDF added that the brigade had lost 67 soldiers since October 7.

Two days later, the Israeli military said the Givati Brigade had also completed operations in northern Gaza and left Jabaliya, the scene of heavy fighting since early October. The unit had lost 68 soldiers, the IDF said. “The Givati Brigade Combat Team operated for approximately one year and three months, during which the troops established control in the area, eliminated many terrorists, located weapons, and dismantled terror infrastructure,” the IDF said in a statement.

Before leaving northern Gaza, the IDF also recovered the body of Staff Sergeant Oron Shaul, a soldier who was killed in 2014 during fighting in Gaza. Hamas had held Shaul’s body for more than a decade.

Reporting from Israel, Seth J. Frantzman is an adjunct fellow at FDD and a contributor to FDD’s Long War Journal. He is the senior Middle East correspondent and analyst at The Jerusalem Post, and author of The October 7 War: Israel's Battle for Security in Gaza (2024).

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