Three Israeli hostages were reunited with their mothers and Palestinians returned to their bombed-out neighborhoods on Sunday with the start of a ceasefire suspending a 15-month-old war that has devastated Gaza and inflamed the Middle East.
In Tel Aviv, hundreds of Israelis cheered and wept in a square outside the defense headquarters as a live broadcast from Gaza showed the three hostages getting into a Red Cross vehicle surrounded by Hamas fighters.
The Israeli military said Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari had been reunited with their mothers and released a video showing them in apparent good health. Damari, who lost two fingers when she was shot the day she was abducted, smiled and embraced her mother as she held up a bandaged hand.
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