Ceasefire brings hope in Gaza; freed Israeli hostages reunited with mothers

The three appeared in good health in a video later released by the military.

Doron Steinbrecher, left, and her mother Simona hold each other near kibbutz Reim, southern Israel after Doron was released from captivity by Hamas militants in Gaza. Picture: AP

Palestinians burst into streets to celebrate and began returning to the rubble of bombed-out homes on Sunday after a ceasefire deal halted fighting in Gaza, while three female hostages freed by Hamas were reunited with their mothers inside Israel.

Armed Hamas fighters drove through the southern city of Khan Younis with crowds cheering and chanting. In the north of the territory, bombed into oblivion in the war's most intense fighting, people picked their way on narrow roads through a devastated landscape of rubble and twisted metal.