Thousands of Israelis gathered in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, some cheering and some in tears, as a giant television screen broadcast the first glimpse of the first three hostages to be released under the Gaza ceasefire deal, Reuters reports.

They watched as the three women — Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari — got out of a car in Gaza City and were handed over to Red Cross officials amid a surging crowd that was held back by armed men in camouflaged military gear, with green Hamas headbands.

“I’m excited, I was so nervous, that they would come safe and alive to their mothers’ hands. They were in the hands of terrorists for 471 days, three young women,” said Shay Dickmann, whose cousin was found slain by her Hamas captors in August.

The Israeli military shared a video showing their families gathered in what appeared to be a military facility crying out in emotion as they watched footage of the handover to Israeli forces in Gaza before they were brought back into Israel.

Pictures shared by the families showed the three women embracing their mothers at a reception centre, with Emily Damari beaming broadly and waving a bandaged hand missing two fingers at family on the other end of a mobile phone video call.