Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN Photo: CCTV. The Hamas-Israel ceasefire that begins on January 19 must not lead to renewed hostilities; children mus

The first three Israeli hostages released from Gaza have been handed over in a test of the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

A ceasefire in the Gaza Strip has taken effect following an almost three-hour delay after Hamas was late to name the three hostage it plans to release

The first three released hostages, Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher, returned home to Israel after Hamas fighters handed them over to the Red Cross in a bustling square in Gaza City, surrounded by gunmen in fatigues and balaclavas.

The first three hostages released from Gaza arrived in Israel on Sunday for tearful reunions with families, hours after the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold following 15 months of war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of backing out of a cease-fire deal to release hostages and end the war in Gaza, which has raged for more than a year.

The first phase of the 42-day truce deal will witness the release of a total of 33 Israeli hostages and 737 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

The deal, mediated by the United States, offered a glimmer of hope in a conflict that has taken an immense human toll.

Thousands of Gazans have begun to travel back to the homes they evacuated earlier in the war. Palestinians in Gaza have said they slept peacefully for the first time in more than a year, without the fear of being bombed, following the start of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

The ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas stretched into a fifth day on Thursday. Humanitarian aid groups are working to surge food and supplies to the war-ravaged territory as Palestinians scour through mountains of rubble looking for bodies of those killed by Israeli bombardments during the 15-month war.

“We need countries with influence over Israel, Hamas and armed groups who have attacked our trucks to insist that we are able to get this lifesaving aid to those who need it,” Tom ...