JERUSALEM—Scenes of armed and uniformed Hamas terrorists could be seen in Gaza on Sunday as the first three Israeli female hostages were released as the cease-fire deal came into effect. 

Israeli news agency TPS-IL reported that groups of armed men, suspected terrorists in the central Gaza area of Deir al-Balah, celebrated after the cease-fire and quoted them as chanting, “It is continuous by God’s permission to kill the last Zionist soldier in our holy country,” as cars honked horns and music blared.

The agreement could enable Hamas to reorganize its terrorists in Gaza and repopulate the northern part of the Gaza Strip that borders Israel, according to some concerned Israeli military experts.

Hamas terrorists wave to Gazans during Sunday’s release of three Israeli hostages. (TPS-IL)

Caroline Glick, a conservative Israeli commentator, who is well versed in the Jewish state’s campaign to defeat Hamas, said on her podcast, “What we’re having now is a situation where we are being forced permanently into this position where we are not allowed to win because that is what the cease-fire effectively does to Israel.”

The cease-fire-for-hostages deal comes at a time when Israel has largely degraded Hamas’ military power. Hamas is in a feeble condition. Hezbollah, the main Hamas ally in the region, cut a cease-fire agreement with Israel and removed one of Iran-backed fronts against the Jewish state.

Iran’s regime has launched no new strikes against Israel since Jerusalem countered its October aerial attack.

Suspected terrorists in Gaza come out of hiding as cease-fire for-hostages deal gets underway in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah area. (Majdi Fathi/TPS-IL)

The deal contains deep concessions for Israel. The Jewish state will release up to 2,000 Palestinian terrorists, including over a hundred serving life sentences.

The expectation is based on previous releases of Palestinian terrorists for Israeli hostages involved in the Palestinian murderers returning to fight Israel. 

TPS-IL reported on Monday that an estimated 20,000 terrorists from Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terror groups have been killed in the war. On Sunday, it was also reported that Izz al-Din Haddad, commander of Hamas’s Northern Brigade, who oversaw Sunday’s transfer of three Israeli hostages to the Red Cross, has been tapped as the Hamas leader to rebuild the terror organization.