As ceasefire takes hold, Hamas returns 3 Israeli hostages, Israel frees 90 Palestinian prisoners
Ramallah (West Bank) (AP/PTI): After 15 months of collective grief and anxiety, three Israeli hostages left Hamas captivity and returned to Israel, and dozens of Palestinian prisoners walked free from Israeli jail, leaving both Israelis and Palestinians torn between celebration and trepidation as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold Sunday.
The skies above Gaza and Israel were silent for the first time in over a year, and Palestinians began returning to what was left of the homes they fled across the war-ravaged enclave, started to check on relatives left behind and, in many cases, to bury their dead. After months of tight Israeli restrictions, more than 600 trucks carrying humanitarian aid rolled into the devastated territory.
The ceasefire that went into effect Sunday morning stirred modest hopes for ending the Israel-Hamas war.
But in Israel, the joy of seeing freed hostages Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Doron Steinbrecher reunited with their families was tempered by major questions over the fate of the nearly 100 others abducted in Hamas' Oct 7, 2023, attack, still in captivity in Gaza.
Damari, Gonen and Steinbrecher were the first among 33 Israeli hostages who are meant to be released in the coming six weeks in a deal that includes a pause in fighting, the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and increased fuel and aid deliveries for Gaza.
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CM Stalin tenders resignation: DMK sources
Chennai (PTI): DMK President M K Stalin on Tuesday resigned as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, party sources said.
The resignation letter has been forwarded to the office of the state Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, the sources added. DMK was defeated in the April 23 Assembly polls by Vijay-led TVK.
DMK has won 59 seats in the 234-member strong TN Assembly and has emerged as the principal opposition party.
The AIADMK won 47 seats.
TVK has won 108 seats and it is the single largest party.
Stalin has said that the DMK would function as a robust opposition party.
