And those released Israeli hostages are now back in Israel, thanks to the Red Cross, who played a crucial role in this deal and transfer. John Strazuso, spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross, joins me now from Geneva with more. John, you guys played such a central role in all of this. Walk me through what went into making this deal happen, and how do you feel now that this day has arrived in this first group is free again?

I say the most important part about this is the relief that the families feel. The relief that the hostages feel after seven weeks in captivity, being separated from a family member in a situation of conflict is the most excruciating pain. People tell us that even if they've lost their homes and they're short on food and water, it's really the separation. If they become separated from their daughter or their son or their spouse, that's the deepest pain. So the good news today is the alleviation of that suffering that the families have been going through and that the hostages have been going through.

So walk us through what the protocol looks like. These hostages are now released. The Israelis are back in Israel. The others are waiting to make their own way home. What happens now?

Well, the important part on this step is the agreement of the parties, this ceasefire, first of all, and then the agreement to allow the hostages to be released and the detainees held by Israel to be released. And then our role in this was to go meet Hamas. We had four Land Cruisers, eight ICRC personnel meeting these 24 hostages and then moving them across Gaza into safe hands to Egyptian and Israeli authorities. What's next is that, of course, this is just day one. We expect to repeat this process tomorrow to move even more hostages out of harm's way from their captors back towards their families, as well as more Palestinian detainees, also to note, back to their families. So the good news here, from our perspective, is that we're reducing that family separation, which is the cause of the greatest heartache that you see in war.

Now, officials also say that this four day pause could be extended even further if Hamas continues to release more hostages after this. I shouldn't say initial group, because I feel like today's is the initial group. But after these roughly 50 as part of this deal, how likely do you think that is to happen? That they reach the number agreed upon in this deal, and Hamas decides, you know what? We'll release some more if you continue this ceasefire, we can only hope that it happens.

We can only hope that these initial steps are some sort of confidence building measure, and it does lead to a reduction of conflict in the future. Whether it's complete ceasefire or reduction, of course we support that because we see how much civilian suffering is caused in this urban setting this close in fighting all the damage and destruction that you see in Gaza and therefore all the suffering that cascades down to the families. So, no predictions on our part. We're happy to continue to play this role of neutral intermediary between the two sides, between Hamas, between Israel in order to further humanitarian goals and hope that that's the track that we're on right now.

And, of course, many more hostages are still held captive. John, what happens next to this group that is part of this exchange deal? And then what happens to those who aren't?

So the group that gets the go, of course, has this nightmare, the seven week nightmare, come to an end, and they begin the healing process from this experience, back with their families, their friends, if they have to, meet with counselors or therapists, of course. And now for the other group that won't be so fortunate to be released in this four day operation. The International committee of the Red Cross, since day one has been insisting through direct talks with Hamas that we be allowed to visit all of the hostages, check on their welfare, bring medical care if necessary, allow those hostages to be able to communicate with their families. We've had those talks directly with Hamas at the highest level. Our president met the political leader of Hamas in Qatar. So we continue to insist on that. We don't have any agreements that's going to take place, but we're still working on it.

All right, John Strazu So, spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross. John, thank you. I know it's a busy day. We appreciate you coming on to share your story.

Thanks for your interest.

Hi, everyone. George Stephanopoulos here. Thanks for checking out the ABC News YouTube channel. If you'd like to get more videos, show highlights, and watch live event coverage, click on the right over here to subscribe to our channel. And don't forget to download the ABC News app for breaking news alerts. Thanks for watching.