Gaza:

Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners while Hamas liberated 17 hostages held in Gaza, including a 4-year-old American girl on the third day of the ceasefire on Sunday. Red Cross said it had successfully transferred 17 hostages from Gaza while Hamas said it had handed over 13 Israelis, 3 Thais, and 1 Russian. US President Joe Biden said the 4-year-old hostage, Abigail Edan, had seen her parents being killed by Hamas during their Oct. 7 attack on Israel. 

"What she endured is unthinkable," Biden said during a press conference. The four-day truce marks the first halt of hostilities in the seven weeks since Hamas killed 1,200 people and took about 240 hostages in Gaza. In retaliation, Israel vowed to destroy the Gaza-based Hamas militants by attacking the area and launching a land invasion in the north. According to Gaza health authorities, there have been almost 14,800 Palestinian deaths and hundreds of thousands of displacements. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met security forces inside the Gaza Strip on Sunday. 

Thirty-nine Palestinians, including 33 teenagers and 6 women, were released from two prisons by Israel on the same day. The US, Qatar, and Egypt are pushing for the truce to last beyond Monday, but it is unclear if that will happen. Conflicts and accusations have the potential to destroy the current agreement. Medics and local sources said violence has also flared in the West Bank, where Israeli forces killed seven Palestinians on Sunday.

Meanwhile, after the Sunday Angelus, Pope Francis thanked God for the truce between Israel and Hamas. The Holy Father prayed that all of the hostages would be freed and that humanitarian aid would enter the Gaza Strip. Recovering from flu-like symptoms, the Pope led the Angelus from his residence of the Casa Santa Marta. The thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square heard the Pontiff's words through the screens installed outside the Vatican Basilica. In his Angelus reflections on this Solemnity of Christ the King, Pope Francis reminded the faithful that we are called to show compassion, mercy, and tenderness, which are the criteria by which they will be judged by the Lord.