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UK foreign secretary David Lammy has said reconstructing Gaza will be a “huge task”.

“The devastation, destruction, the catastrophic situation that Gazans find themselves in, I’ve described as hell on Earth, and the continuous displacement of people has been thoroughly, thoroughly intolerable,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“This is a huge task, and those that are reconstructing Gaza want to be assured that 20, 25 years from now … another foreign secretary is not on the Today programme talking yet again about destruction.

“Can we, this time, actually set about a process that delivers change and that two states, that just cause, that the Palestinian cause quite rightly is.”

The mother of another freed Israeli hostage has spoken of needing “a moment to breathe it in and believe in the reality we achieved together” as she called for the release of the remaining captives.

In some of her first comments since the release of her daughter Romi Gonen, Meirav Leshem Gonen wrote in a post on social media this morning: “It will take me, for us, a moment to breathe it in and believe in the reality we achieved together. I promise to come back.

“There are 97 more loved ones that need a reality like this.”

Following the release of the three Israeli hostages on Sunday, there are now 94 remaining, not 97.

The mother of the freed British-Israeli hostage has said she was “finally able to give Emily the hug that I have been dreaming of” as she described the “incredibly happy moment for our family” and thanked all who campaigned for her daughter’s freedom.

In a statement issued from Shefayim in Israel on Monday, Mandy Damari, mother 28-year-old Emily Damari, said: “Yesterday, I was finally able to give Emily the hug that I have been dreaming of.

“From the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank the many people who have played a role in bringing Emily home and given their support to me and my family. As I said over the course of the campaign, you are all Emily’s family.”

Emily, who is a dual British-Israeli citizen, was among the three Israeli hostages who were the first to be free under the Gaza ceasefire deal that came into effect yesterday.

Her mother continued: “I am relieved to report that after her release, Emily is doing much better than any of us could ever have anticipated. I am also happy that during her release the world was given a glimpse of her feisty and charismatic personality. In Emily’s own words, she is the happiest girl in the world; she has her life back.”

She added: “As wonderful as it is to see Emily’s resilience, these are still early days. As you will have seen yesterday, Emily lost two of the fingers on her left hand. She now needs time with her loved ones and her doctors as she begins her road to recovery.”

Mandy also highlighted the plight of the remaining hostages who are still in Hamas’ captivity as she called for them to be returned to their loved ones.

She said: “In this incredibly happy moment for our family, we must also remember that 94 other hostages still remain. The ceasefire must continue and every last hostage must be returned to their families.”

Foreign secretary David Lammy said he is “pleased and delighted” that British-Israeli Emily Damari has been released by Hamas.

“Let me just first, obviously say how pleased and delighted I am that Emily Damari has emerged,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“And I say that because I grew very close to her family, and I think the whole of the country will be delighted that she is free, but recognising there are still 95 hostages being held, and there are British nationals like Nadav Popplewell who lost their life.”

Mr Lammy said a social media post by Ms Damari after her release made him “very emotional”.

“I have a yellow flower. It’s a plastic flower that her mother gave me that’s in my office that I said I would keep in my office until she was freed. I will move it from my office today and take it home. So that’s… it’s incredibly touching,” he said.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have signalled they will limit their attacks in the Red Sea corridor to only Israeli-affiliated ships, as a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip takes hold.

The Houthis made the announcement in an email sent to shipping officials and others on Sunday.

The rebels are separately planning a military statement on Monday, likely to involve the decision.

The Houthis, through their Humanitarian Operations Coordination Centre, made the announcement by saying it was “stopping sanctions” on the other vessels it has previously targeted since it started attacks in November 2023.

The Houthis have targeted about 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip started in October 2023.

The group have seized one vessel and sunk two in a campaign that has also killed four sailors.

Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by separate US- and European-led coalitions in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have also included Western military vessels.

The Houthis said that for Israeli ships, those “sanctions … will be stopped upon the full implementation of all phases” of the ceasefire.

However, the centre left open the possibility of resuming attacks against both the US and the UK, which have launched air strikes targeting the rebels over their seaborne assaults.

“In the event of any aggression … the sanctions will be reinstated against the aggressor state,” the centre said. “You will be promptly informed of such measures should they be implemented.”

The Gaza ceasefire is a “crucial geopolitical moment” and it is “hugely important” to turn it into a process that allows Palestinians a “political horizon”, UK foreign secretary David Lammy has said.

“This is a crucial geopolitical moment in global affairs, and the United States will have a huge effect on that,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“We’ve got 15 days until negotiations begin for the next phase.

“It’s hugely important now that we turn this into a political process… military might alone does not destroy Hamas terrorism. It is a political process that allows the Palestinian people a political horizon.

“That’s what we’ve got to get to, and we’ve got to give security to Israel, and that means the governance of Gaza, how Israelis remain secure and do not have another event like October 7th.

“But how, indeed, we bring the Palestinian Authority back in in Gaza, how the Arab states, Gulf states, are able to step back in and assist us and others with the reconstruction of Gaza… that is the significance of these next few weeks, and that’s what we’ve got to get to.”

Residents poured into the streets at the start of the truce, despite the devastation surrounding them.

Many returned to homes reduced to rubble during 15 months of relentless conflict that claimed over 46,000 lives.

A Palestinian journalist freed from an Israeli prison overnight has been seen reuniting with her young daughter in emotional footage.

Rula Hassanein, who is a freelance journalist and also an editor for the Ramallah-based Wattan Media Network, was filmed crying and embracing her toddler early on Monday.

Israeli forces arrested Ms Hassanein from her home in the West Bank on 19 March over her social media posts, according to a previous report by the Committee to Protect Journalists, which called for her release on the grounds that her and her infant’s health had deteriorated during her months in Damon Prison, near the northern Israeli city of Haifa.

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

British-Israeli 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 posted on Monday, which was 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 on 7 October, 2023. As she arrived to a hospital on Sunday she waved at a crowd that had gathered and footage later showed her joyfully reuniting with her family.

The three Israeli hostages left Hamas captivity on 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.