One of the Israeli hostages freed on the first day of the Gaza ceasefire said Monday in her first comments since being released that she has “returned to life.”

Emily Damari, 28, was one of three hostages freed Sunday after spending 471 days in captivity. Officials at a hospital that received them said their condition was stable.

In an Instagram story, shared by Israeli media, Damari thanked her family and the large protest movement that coalesced to advocate for the release of the hostages. “Thank you thank you thank you I’m the happiest in the world,” she said.

Damari, a dual Israeli-British citizen, returned from captivity with a bandage on one hand and authorities said she had lost two fingers during Hamas’ attack Oct. 7, 2023. As she arrived to a hospital Sunday she waved at a crowd that had gathered and footage later showed her joyfully reuniting with her family.

Her mother, Mandy Damari, said in a statement later Monday that Emily Damari was “doing much better than any of us could ever have anticipated.”

The three Israeli hostages left Hamas captivity Sunday 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.

Hezbollah says Israel did not achieve any of its objectives in Gaza

BEIRUT >> The militant Hezbollah movement has praised the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as a victory for the Palestinian people, saying Israel did not achieve any of its objectives.

Hezbollah blasted the United States, saying that through its support to Israel, Washington is “a full partner in the crimes and genocide that the enemy committed against the Palestinian people.”

Hezbollah said in a statement Monday that it was a partner in the Palestinian “victory,” adding that the Lebanese group opened a front with Israel in which it paid a high price on top of losing its top commanders, including leader Hassan Nasrallah, and thousands of supporters.

Hezbollah said that resistance is the only way to deter Israel that “was not able to achieve any of its goals by force or break the will or steadfastness of the Palestinian people.”

Mother of freed Israeli hostage vows to continue her campaign

TEL AVIV >> The mother of one of the Israeli hostages freed after 471 days of captivity in Gaza vowed Monday to keep fighting for the return of all the others.

Merav Leshem Gonen’s daughter, Romi, 24, was kidnapped from the Nova music festival in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Since then, Leshem Gonen has emerged as one of the loudest voices advocating for the return of the hostages, appearing nearly daily on Israeli news programs and traveling abroad.

“We are in an alternate reality in these hours, shutting out the outside world, a time in which there is nothing but family,” she posted on Facebook on Monday, after reuniting with her daughter Sunday evening near the Gaza border.

All three women released Sunday are expected to stay hospitalized for several days. Officials at the hospital where they were received said their condition was stable.

“It will take me, us, a moment to breathe her in, and to believe this reality that we have brought about together,” Leshem Gonen wrote. “I promise I’ll be back.”

Palestinians returning to Rafah find their homes destroyed

RAFAH, Gaza Strip >> Palestinians returning to their homes in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah after the ceasefire found homes and neighborhoods flattened after eight months of Israel’s military offensive.

“We found destruction, destruction,” said Mohamed Abu al-Kheir, a Palestinian man who shelters in a tent in the city of Khan Younis. “There is nothing to live in. There is no furniture or anything.”

Associated Press footage showed large swaths of Rafah turned into rubble. People were seen searching the remains of their homes. Others searched two military vehicles that Israeli forces left behind when they withdrew from the area.

Lebanese man confesses to passing information to Israel

BEIRUT >> Judicial and security officials in Beirut say a Lebanese man has confessed on giving information to Israel about the Hezbollah group in return for money and has been referred to the country’s prosecutors.

The three judicial and three security officials said Monday that the man, from the border village of Beit Lif, crossed into Israel recently where he gave information about Hezbollah posts and some members in the area before returning to Lebanon.

He entered and left Israel with the help of an Israeli drone that led him into the way from where he crossed the border.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about security matters to the media, said the man received $2,500 as well as a laptop and a cellphone to communicate with them.