Tag: Hamas
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Devastating chapter closes as hostages come home and ceasefire takes hold
With all the remaining living hostages back in Israel, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, a devastating 2-year chapter is finally closed. Haley Ott reports.
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News Analysis: For Trump, celebration and a victory lap in the Middle East
Summoned last minute by the president of the United States, the world’s most powerful leaders dropped their schedules to fly to Egypt on Monday, where they idled on a stage awaiting Donald Trump’s grand entrance.
They were there to celebrate a significant U.S. diplomatic achievement that has ended hostilities in Gaza after two brutal years of war. But really, they were there for Trump, who took a victory lap for brokering what he called the “greatest deal of them all.”
“Together we’ve achieved what everyone said was impossible, but at long last, we have peace in the Middle East,” Trump told gathered presidents, sheikhs, prime ministers and emirs, arriving in Egypt after addressing the Knesset in Israel. “Nobody thought it could ever get there, and now we’re there.
“Now, the rebuilding begins — the rebuilding is maybe going to be the easiest part,” Trump said. “I think we’ve done a lot of the hardest part, because the rest comes together. We all know how to rebuild, and we know how to build better than anybody in the world.”
The achievement of a ceasefire in Gaza has earned Trump praise from across the political aisle and from U.S. friends and foes around the world, securing an elusive peace that officials hope will endure long enough to provide space for a wider settlement of Mideast tensions.
Trump’s negotiation of the Abraham Accords in his first term, which saw his administration secure diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco, were a nonpartisan success embraced by the succeeding Biden administration. But it was the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, and the overwhelming response from Israel that followed, that interrupted efforts by President Biden and his team to build on their success.
The Trump administration now hopes to get talks of expanding the Abraham Accords back on track, eyeing new deals between Israel and Lebanon, Syria, and most of all, Saudi Arabia, effectively ending Israel’s isolation from the Arab world.
Yet, while the current Gaza war appears to be over, the greater Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains.
Trump’s diplomatic success halted the deadliest and most destructive war between Israelis and Palestinians in history, making the achievement all the more notable. Yet the record of the conflict shows a pattern of cyclical violence that flares when similar ceasefires are followed by periods of global neglect.
The first phase of Trump’s peace plan saw Israeli defense forces withdraw from half of Gazan territory, followed by the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas since Oct. 7 in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners in Israeli custody.
The next phase — Hamas’ disarmament and Gaza’s reconstruction — may not in fact be “the easiest part,” experts say.
“Phase two depends on Trump keeping everyone’s feet to the fire,” said Dennis Ross, a veteran diplomat on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict who served in the George H.W. Bush, Clinton and Obama administrations.
“Israeli withdrawal and reconstruction are tied together,” he added. “The Saudis and Emiratis won’t invest the big sums Trump talked about without it. Otherwise they know this will happen again.”
While the Israeli government voted to approve the conditions of the hostage release, neither side has agreed to later stages of Trump’s plan, which would see Hamas militants granted amnesty for disarming and vowing to remain outside of Palestinian governance going forward.
An apolitical, technocratic council would assume governing responsibilities for an interim period, with an international body, chaired by Trump, overseeing reconstruction of a territory that has seen 90% of its structures destroyed.
President Trump speaks during a summit of world leaders Monday in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt.
(Amr Nabil / Associated Press)
The document, in other words, is not just a concession of defeat by Hamas, but a full and complete surrender that few in the Middle East believe the group will ultimately accept. While Hamas could technically cease to exist, the Muslim Brotherhood — a sprawling political movement throughout the region from which Hamas was born — could end up reviving the group in another form.
In Israel, the success of the next stage — as well as a long-delayed internal investigation into the government failures that led to Oct. 7 — will likely dominate the next election, which could be called for any time next year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s domestic polling fluctuated dramatically over the course of the war, and both flanks of Israeli society, from the moderate left to the far right, are expected to exploit the country’s growing war fatigue under his leadership for their own political gain.
Netanyahu’s instinct has been to run to the right in every Israeli election this last decade. But catering to a voting bloc fueling Israel’s settler enterprise in the West Bank — long the more peaceful Palestinian territory, governed by a historically weak Palestinian Authority — runs the risk of spawning another crisis that could quickly upend Trump’s peace effort.
And crises in the West Bank have prompted the resumption of war in Gaza before.
“Israelis will fear Hamas would dominate a Palestinian state, and that is why disarmament of Hamas and reform of the [Palestinian Authority] are so important. Having Saudi leaders reach out to the Israeli public would help,” Ross said.
“The creeping annexation in the West Bank must stop,” Ross added. “The expansion of settlements must stop, and the violence of extremist settlers must stop.”
In the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7, Netanyahu faced broad criticism for a yearslong strategy of disempowering the Palestinian Authority to Hamas’ benefit, preferring a conflict he knew Israel could win over a peace Israel could not control.
So the true fate of Trump’s peace plan may ultimately come down to the type of peace Netanyahu chooses to pursue in the heat of an election year.
“You are committed to this peace,” Netanyahu said Monday, standing alongside Trump in the Knesset. The Israeli prime minister added: “I am committed to this peace.”
Michael Wilner
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Key moments from a momentous day for Israelis and Palestinians
(CNN) — The last 20 living hostages held in Gaza were released on Monday, reuniting with their families in jubilant scenes as world leaders gathered in Egypt to discuss the future of Gaza and the next phases of the US-brokered ceasefire deal.
For the first time in more than two years, Hamas and its allies are not holding any living hostages in Gaza.
Meanwhile, 1,718 Palestinian detainees who were being held in Israel without charge were released on Monday and returned to Gaza. Israel also released 250 Palestinians serving long-term sentences.
Addressing the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, on Monday during his trip to the Middle East, US President Donald Trump said the “long and painful nightmare is finally over.”
“This is a historic dawn of a new Middle East,” Trump told Israeli lawmakers, having earlier projected confidence that the ceasefire deal would hold and that the war in Gaza was over.
But a number of issues related to the 20-point plan brokered by Trump, alongside Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, remain unresolved.
Here are some key moments from Monday and where the peace process may go next:
Hostages freed
The remaining 20 living hostages were released in two groups on Monday, prompting elation and relief throughout Israel.
In Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, large crowds cheered, waved flags and chanted “thank you, Trump!” as news of the hostages’ freedom was announced.
Emotional scenes unfolded at the Re’im military facility in southern Israel, where the released hostages were reunited with their immediate families after more than two years in captivity.
In footage shared by the Israeli military, 24-year-old Guy Gilboa-Dalal, who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival, was met by his parents and siblings. His family cried and embraced him in a large hug.
Omri Miran embraces his father Dani in Re’im, Israel, after his release from captivity on October 13. Credit: Israel Defense Forces / Reuters via CNN Newsource Omri Miran, 48, who was kidnapped when Hamas gunmen broke into his family’s home in kibbutz Nahal Oz, was met by his wife Lishay Miran-Lavi and his father Dani Miran. Photos showed him playing with his children for the first time in more than two years.
“We are at the beginning of a complex and challenging, yet moving, journey of recovery,” Miran’s family said in a statement.
Under the agreement brokered by the US, Hamas and its allies were meant to release all of the remaining hostages, including 28 dead ones, within 72 hours of the ceasefire being announced.
Israeli authorities said that Hamas had handed over four coffins said to contain the remains of four deceased hostages to the Red Cross on Monday.
Later in the day, Israeli police said the coffins had been released into Israel, before being escorted to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv for formal identification. Israel has not yet confirmed the identities of the remains being returned.
Palestinian prisoners released
Israel released 1,718 Palestinian detainees – detained by its forces in Gaza over the past two years and held without charge – on Monday. The detainees were brought back to Gaza on buses, where they were met by large crowds at Nasser hospital in the southern part of the enclave.
A freed Palestinian is hugged by a relative in Ramallah, West Bank, after he was released from an Israeli jail on October 13. Credit: Ammar Awad / Reuters via CNN Newsource Israel also released 250 Palestinians serving life or long-term prison sentences.
Some of those released prisoners were taken to the occupied West Bank, where they were hugged by family and friends as they emerged from buses in Ramallah. CNN also witnessed a substantial presence of Palestinian security forces and medics at the scene.
A further 154 Palestinian prisoners who had been serving long sentences in Israeli jails were deported to Egypt, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Society. Israeli authorities had demanded that prisoners convicted of “violent offenses” be deported to third countries rather than be allowed to return to the West Bank or Gaza.
Trump’s pointed address to Israel
Trump spoke for more than an hour in the Israeli parliament, taking a victory lap for the ceasefire deal and repeatedly, pointedly telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to not restart the war.
“Israel, with our help, has won all that they can by force of arms. You’ve won. I mean, you’ve won,” Trump said. “Now it’s time to translate these victories against terrorists on the battlefield into the ultimate prize of peace and prosperity for the entire Middle East. It’s about time you were able to enjoy the fruits of your labor.”
The US president also warned that more war would diminish Netanyahu’s legacy, adding that he will be remembered for the truce “far more than if you kept this thing going.”
Netanyahu has previously been accused of prolonging the war in Gaza in order to delay and distract from his corruption cases and domestic political troubles, an accusation he’s rejected.
World leaders meet in Egypt
Trump traveled on to Egypt to meet with other world leaders, including the leaders of Qatar, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. They converged on the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, where Egypt and the US are co-hosting a summit on the end of the Gaza war and the next phases of a peace plan.
World leaders took part in a signing ceremony for the Gaza ceasefire deal during the summit.
Netanyahu said he was invited but did not attend.
The 20-point ceasefire plan brokered by the United States, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey still has several unresolved issues and details that must be hammered out.
Those sticking points include how the largely destroyed Gaza Strip will be governed after the war, as well as how Hamas’ disarmament and Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza will be carried out.
Next steps of ceasefire plan
The full withdrawal of the Israeli military is contingent on Hamas’ disarmament, according to the agreement, leaving some wiggle room for Netanyahu to say Israel still has the freedom to resume fighting.
Hamas’ chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, said last week that the group has received guarantees from the US and international mediators confirming that this deal means “the war has ended permanently,” rather than representing a temporary ceasefire. It’s not clear in what form those guarantees came.
The key unanswered question is what will happen to Hamas, according to Burcu Ozcelik, senior research fellow for Middle East security at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a British think tank.
“You have what looks like a pathway to Palestinian statehood … but this, ultimately, is a Palestinian state that does not seem to have any place for Hamas. To what extent Hamas will agree to this and comply with this in the weeks and months to come – I think that is a big question,” Ozcelik told CNN.
“I think Israel will retain what it sees as its national security imperative to operate in Gaza if it believes that there is a credible threat to its security and its border communities,” Ozcelik said. “But at the same time, there needs to be a governing body in Gaza. There needs to be security and law enforcement. There needs to be basic service delivery and distribution of vital humanitarian aid.”
She added that other regional actors will be expected to play an important role in the transition, particularly Egypt and Turkey. “I think for the time being, all sides are going to want to be seen as doing all that they can to make Trump’s plan work.”
CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Ivana Kottasova, Kara Fox, Tim Lister, Abeer Salman and Eyad Kourdi contributed to this report.
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Lauren Kent and CNN
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Amid relief of Gaza ceasefire, US Muslim, Jewish groups agree on difficulty of achieving lasting peace – WTOP News
U.S.-based Jewish and Muslim advocacy groups agree a lot of work remains to achieve a lasting peace in the Middle East, despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
All 20 living Israeli hostages held by Hamas and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel are free as part of a ceasefire in Gaza. But halfway around the world, U.S.-based Jewish and Muslim advocacy groups agree a lot of work remains to achieve lasting peace in the Middle East.
Alan Ronkin, regional director of the American Jewish Committee in D.C., said this is a long-awaited relief for the hostages held since Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.
“It’s going to take some time to get them back to be themselves, back to their families, and God willing, achieve some sort of a normal life after being through this absolute hell for the past two years,” Ronkin said.
Haris Tarin, vice president of policy and programming with the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said “that the Palestinian people will hopefully be able to breathe again, and that the suffering will stop.”
“The fact that Palestinians in Gaza can actually go back to their homes — even if it’s just rubble — to be able to go back to that rubble,” Tarin said. “So, there is relief, and some room for celebration.”
Yet with Israel’s insistence that Hamas disarm, the likelihood of a permanent peace in the near future is slim.
“We don’t have trust in the Netanyahu government to move forward and stick to its side of the deal,” Tarin said. “So, we just hope the Trump administration and the international community will hold the Netanyahu government accountable, to do what it’s supposed to do.”
Ronkin called recent developments “a potentially historic and pivotal moment in the Middle East — one that could move us toward a better future for Israelis and Palestinians.”
However, “There are unprecedented challenges in the region, but today is a day of hope and a day to focus on the necessity for the work to come.”
Tarin said he believes the road to peace is more straightforward.
“If the occupation leaves, and life is made a little bit more sustainable for the Palestinian people to live side by side with the Israelis, then I think there’s room for lasting peace,” Tarin said. “But, if this peace deal’s just another way to continue the occupation, there’s no road.”
Ronkin was asked whether each side would have to make sacrifices to reach a lasting peace.
“Look, peace is always a matter of compromise, and we’re not there yet.”
“Palestinians also have the right to self-determination and sovereignty, in some way,” Ronkin said. “The idea is, we’ve got to figure out how to do it.”
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Neal Augenstein
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What’s next in the Gaza peace plan after Israeli hostages released, Palestinian prisoners freed
The next phase of the Gaza peace plan brokered by President Trump moved forward significantly on Monday as Hamas released all of the 20 living Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, and as more aid started to flow into the Palestinian territory after two years of war.
The steps are crucial parts of President Trump’s 20-point peace plan, and they came three days after a ceasefire took effect in Gaza and Israeli troops pulled back to a pre-determined line.
World leaders, including Mr. Trump, were meeting in Egypt on Monday for a summit on the future of Gaza and the broader Middle East.
But the situation remains fragile, with major questions over what comes next still to be answered.
Negotiations over next steps
Israel and Hamas have little trust in each other, and it took a number of failed, indirect negotiations in Doha, Qatar’s capital, to get to the truce, with Egypt and Qatar acting as meditators.
The initial phases of the agreement called for: the release of the final hostages held by Hamas, living and dead; the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel; a surge of humanitarian aid to Gaza; and a partial pullback by Israeli forces from Gaza’s main cities.
Egypt’s foreign minister said on Monday that it was crucial that Israel and Hamas fully implement the first phase of the deal so that the parties can start negotiations on the second phase. As of Monday evening, all living hostages were back in Israel, but the remains of many of the slain captives remained in Gaza.
Later phases of the plan will have to address thornier issues such as Gaza’s postwar governance, Israel’s demand that Hamas disarm, which the group has rejected, and Palestinian demands for a state, which the current Israeli government has rejected.
Negotiations over those issues could break down, and Israel has hinted it may resume military operations if its demands are not met.
President Trump’s plan to end the war also stipulates that regional and international partners will work to develop the core of a new Palestinian security force.
Reconstruction will be another major challenge. The World Bank, and a postwar plan proposed by Egypt, estimates that at least $53 billion will be needed to rebuild the shattered Palestinian territory. Egypt plans to host a future reconstruction conference.
Will Hamas disarm?
Among the most difficult issues is Israel’s insistence that a weakened Hamas completely disarm. Hamas refuses to do that and wants to ensure Israel pulls its troops completely out of Gaza.
So far, the Israeli military has withdrawn from Gaza City, the southern city of Khan Younis and other areas, but it remains in control of about 53% of the enclave, according to Israeli officials. Troops remain in most of the southern city of Rafah, towns of Gaza’s far north, and a wide strip along the length of Gaza’s border with Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that Israel was “tightening the noose around Hamas from all sides,” and vowed that Gaza would be demilitarized after the Israeli government approved the peace plan, which it did hours later.
“Hamas will disarm and Gaza will be demilitarized. If this can be achieved the easy way, all the better; if not, it will be achieved the hard way,” Netanyahu said, addressing reporters.
Who will govern Gaza?
Israel and Hamas have not agreed on Gaza’s postwar governance.
Under the U.S. plan, an international body is supposed to govern the Palestinian territory, overseeing Palestinian technocrats running day-to-day affairs. Hamas and other factions would not have any role in Gaza’s governance.
The plan envisions an eventual role for Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority — something Netanyahu has long opposed. But it requires the authority, which administers parts of the West Bank, to first undergo a sweeping reform program, and it does not provide any timeline for the process.
Hamas has said Gaza’s government should be worked out among Palestinians.
The deal also recognizes an independent Palestinian state as, “the aspiration of the Palestinian people,” but it’s unclear if or when discussions on statehood could take place, and Israel’s Netanyahu has repeatedly said he will not allow the creation of a Palestinian state.
International security force
The plan calls for an Arab-led international security force in Gaza, along with Palestinian police trained by Egypt and Jordan. It says Israeli forces will leave additional areas as those forces deploy.
Under the plan, the force would work with Israel and Egypt to help secure border areas, along with the newly trained Palestinian police forces.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said the international force needs a U.N. Security Council resolution to endorse its deployment and mandate as a peacekeeping force.
About 200 U.S. troops are now in Israel to monitor the ceasefire and the early stages of the peace plan. They were expected to carry out that work in conjunction with partner nations, nongovernmental organizations and private-sector players.
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Opinion | What I Saw in Gaza in the Final Days of War
Your editorial gathers the right “ Lessons of Trump’s Gaza Peace Deal” (Oct. 10). President Trump did what not only President Biden couldn’t but what all the European leaders recently calling for “cease-fire” never tried. The 20-point plan achieves Israel’s goals of the war, protects Palestinian interests, offers hope for a future without Hamas and sets the conditions for lasting peace.
As I boarded my plane out of Tel Aviv on Oct. 10, pure joy was in the air. It permeated every space, billboard sign and hotel. Israelis weren’t celebrating vengeance. They were relishing the prospect of peace, security and the end of a nightmare.
Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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Hostages, Palestinian Prisoners Freed In Mideast Deal – KXL
Hamas released the 20 living Israeli hostages it still held and Israel released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Photo credit: MGN Online
UNDATED – Hamas has reportedly freed the remaining living hostages being held, while Israel released approximately 2,000 Palestinian prisoners as part of a cease-fire agreement brokered by the Trump administration. In response, President Trump, who traveled to the Middle East, proclaimed the war between the Israelis and Hamas has come to an “end.” He landed Monday afternoon in Egypt for the “Summit of Peace” where world leaders are to discuss the ceasefire plan.
While Israel and Hamas have yet to reach agreement on the next step, restoration of the Gaza Strip, Trump claimed the process is already underway. Humanitarian organizations have said they’re preparing to surge aid into the war ravaged area, especially food that has been in short supply in many places.
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Tim Lantz
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The End of Israel’s Hostage Ordeal
When Witkoff took to the lectern, the crowd broke out in enthusiastic applause and chants of “Thank you, Trump!” But, when he tried to mention Netanyahu’s name, his words were drowned out by jeers that lasted long enough for Kushner to be seen giggling uncomfortably behind him. Netanyahu’s son Yair later lashed out, claiming, outlandishly, that the booing protesters were “funded by Qatar.” Even some in the opposition complained that the booing was impolitic. But the Israeli public follows the news. It knows that Netanyahu and his ministers have repeatedly stalled and torpedoed past attempts to bring back the hostages and end the war. Some ministers even voted against a previous deal to bring back the children then still held in captivity. (That deal went into effect, anyway.) It takes a level of stony fanaticism, not to mention downright cruelty, to do that. Israelis will not soon forget it.
For the hostages, a lengthy and uncertain process of recovery now begins. During the weekend, I spoke by phone to Hagai Levine, who heads the medical team for the organization of hostages’ families. “The feeling is nerve-racking,” he said, adding that many health experts working with the released captives felt a certain “duality.” On the one hand, there is by now a body of knowledge about how to manage the care of returned hostages. There will, for example, be an emphasis on trying to place hostages who had been together in captivity in the same hospital, because of their need to remain close and provide support to one another. On the other hand, as Levine told me, “this is the first time we are receiving people after two years. We can’t stick to protocol.” Though the group of twenty seemed in relatively good health upon their release, some have reportedly suffered severe physical abuse. And some were left by themselves for long stretches. Alon Ohel, a twenty-four-year-old pianist who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival, was kept in a tunnel beneath Gaza, along with three other abductees. Those three were released this past winter, during the last hostage exchange. Ohel remained alone, and was reportedly isolated since then.
Adding to the uncertainty is the question of the hostages’ medical changes over time, Levine said. A captive who has lost forty pounds, for example, may actually have lost eighty pounds but gained some of it back before his release. During the past two years, some of the captives may have experienced the decline, or even failure, of vital organs. “In the first days, people think that, because the hostages are walking, they are speaking, maybe the situation is not so bad,” Levine said, in a briefing with reporters. But, he went on, “We realized over time that there are internal injuries like renal problems, neurological problems, and cardiac problems that may be increased, including accelerated aging.”
Still, Levine chose to focus on the hopeful side of this release. For one thing, he told me, all surviving hostages will be coming home. This means that those released won’t be faced with the burden and guilt associated with knowing that others have been left behind; nor will they confront the impossible prospect of becoming instant advocates, taking up the very public fight for the release of others. “This gives us an opportunity that didn’t exist before, when they were constantly under the shadow of the other hostages and couldn’t devote themselves to their own rehabilitation,” Levine said.
Speaking at a rally in southern Israel ahead of the release, Sagui Dekel-Chen, who spent almost five hundred days in captivity, addressed the relatives expecting their loved ones: “You’re allowed to smile and hug, but, please, not too strongly,” he said. “Don’t spill information on them, because they haven’t been told anything. Don’t rush to tell them how much you suffered and how much you fought for them. It’s heavy for them to carry, and they already know.” He then turned to his fellow former captives. “Brothers. You are finally allowed to break down everything you’ve been holding in. Let it all out, from the stomach, everything you couldn’t do there at night on a concrete floor surrounded by friends and captors.”
As the hostages reunited with their families, Israel was preparing to release almost two thousand Palestinian prisoners and detainees it had guaranteed to free in exchange. Two hundred and fifty of them had been serving life sentences, many for carrying out attacks that killed Israeli civilians. The second phase of the ceasefire agreement—which will address the future rule of Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas, and the timeline and extent of a withdrawal of Israeli troops from the territory—is still undecided, and will likely take many more weeks to negotiate. A summit on the subject is set to begin later on Monday, in Egypt. At Trump’s request, Netanyahu received a last-minute invitation from the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Axios reported. He declined to attend, citing the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah as an excuse. Perhaps he reasoned that it would not serve him to be seen in attendance as a group of Arab and Muslim countries, along with others, sketched out the parameters of a future Palestinian state—something he has steadfastly insisted will never happen.
Across the fence, in Gaza, Palestinians had been trekking with their belongings for days, since preparations for the ceasefire were announced. Many returned to their homes over the weekend, only to find them under heaps of rubble. Ezzideen Shehab, a Gaza-based doctor, lost more than seventy members of his extended family. On Saturday, he wrote on social media about his experience of homecoming. “Today we learned that our homes, our land, and our entire neighborhood, every house belonging to our family and our neighbors, have been completely erased,” he wrote. “We were the victims of an annihilation ignited by Hamas from within our homes, only for the Israeli army to descend upon us and unleash its full cruelty on the civilians of Gaza, while Hamas’s fighters vanished into their tunnels.”
Ruth Margalit
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Who are the hostages being released?
The Israeli military says the first hostages have been handed over by Hamas and have returned to Israel. Until Monday, 48 hostages were still being held in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
All but one were among the 251 people abducted during the Palestinian group’s attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, during which about 1,200 other people were killed.
Israel responded by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 67,000 people have been killed, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Hostages who Israel says have been released
Eitan Mor, 25, was working as a security guard at the Nova music festival. His father Mor said he saved dozens of people before being kidnapped by Hamas gunmen. In February 2025, Eitan’s family said they had received a sign of life from him. Three months later, they said a released hostage who spent time with him in a tunnel had told them how he had acted as a “spokesman to the captors” and “lifted everyone’s spirits”.
Alon Ohel, 24, has Israeli, German and Serbian citizenship. Hamas footage showed him being taken away as a hostage from the Nova festival. Alon was not seen in another video until August 2025, when he was filmed being driven around Gaza City with Guy Gilboa-Dalal. Last month, Alon’s family approved the publication of a still from a new video which they said showed he had gone blind in one eye.
Gali and Ziv Berman, 28-year-old twin brothers, were abducted from Kibbutz Kfar Aza with their neighbour, Emily Damari. Ziv was held with Emily for 40 days before they were separated. She was released in January 2025 during the last ceasefire. Gali and Ziv’s family said they had been informed by other hostages released in early 2025 that they were still alive.
Twins Gali and Ziv Berman were taken hostage along with their British-Israeli neighbour Emily Damari, who has since been released [The Hostages and Missing Families Forum]
Guy Gilboa-Dalal, 24, attended the festival with his brother, Gal, who said the last time they saw each other was just before Hamas launched its first barrage of rockets into Israel at the start of the attack. Gal evaded the gunmen on the ground, but Guy was kidnapped. Last month, Hamas released a video showing Guy and another hostage, Alon Ohel, being driven around Gaza City in late August as the Israeli military prepared to launch an offensive there.
Matan Angrest, a 22-year-old Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier, was in a tank that was attacked near the Gaza perimeter fence on 7 October. One video showed a crowd pulling him from the tank unconscious and injured. Earlier this year, his family said they had been told by released hostages that he was suffering from chronic asthma, untreated burns and infections.
Omri Miran, 48, was abducted from his home in Nahal Oz. His wife, Lishay, said she last saw him being driven away in his own car. She and their two young daughters, Roni and Alma, were not taken with him. In April 2025, Hamas released a video showing Omri marking his 48th birthday. In response: Lishay said: “I always said and I always knew, Omri is a survivor.”
Hamas published a video earlier this year purporting to show Omri Miran alive [The Hostages and Missing Families Forum]
Hostages who are set to be released
Ariel Cunio, 28, was abducted in the attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz on 7 October. Ariel’s brother Eitan, who escaped the Hamas-led gunmen, said the last message from Ariel said: “We are in a horror movie.” Ariel’s partner, Arbel Yehud, was freed in January 2025 under a deal that saw Hamas hand over 25 living and eight dead hostages during a two-month ceasefire.
David Cunio, 35, another of Ariel’s brothers, was also kidnapped from Nir Oz. David’s wife Sharon Aloni Cunio and their then-three-year-old twin daughters Ema and Yuly were among the 105 hostages released during a week-long ceasefire in November 2023. Sharon’s sister Danielle Aloni and her daughter Emilia were also freed. In February 2025, David’s family said released hostages had told them that had recently seen him alive.
Matan Angrest, a 22-year-old Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier, was in a tank that was attacked near the Gaza perimeter fence on 7 October. One video showed a crowd pulling him from the tank unconscious and injured. Earlier this year, his family said they had been told by released hostages that he was suffering from chronic asthma, untreated burns and infections.
Matan Zangauker, 25, was taken with his partner Ilana Gritzewsky from Nir Oz. Ilana was released during the November 2023 ceasefire. In December 2024, Hamas released a video showing Matan in captivity. He said he and his fellow hostages were suffering from skin ailments, shortages of food, water and medicine.
Eitan Horn, 38, an Israeli-Argentine dual national, was kidnapped along with his elder brother Yair from Nir Oz. Yair was freed in February 2025 during the last ceasefire. Hamas released a video at the time showing Eitan and Yair hugging and breaking down in tears ahead of the latter’s release. “Every day we imagined what we’d do if we were freed,” Yair recalled recently.
Nimrod Cohen, 21, was serving as an IDF soldier when his tank was attacked by Hamas at Nahal Oz. In February 2025, his family were told by one of the released hostages that he was still alive in captivity but in poor physical and mental shape. After the new ceasefire was agreed, his mother Viki posted on social media: “My child, you are coming home.”
Dozens of people were taken hostage during the attack by Hamas gunmen on the Nova music festival. Among those believed to be still alive are:
Yosef-Chaim Ohana, 25, had been at the festival with a friend, who said they had remained to help people escape the gunfire before running themselves. In May 2025, Hamas published a video showing Yosef and another hostage, Elkana Bohbot. Yosef is seen sitting beside Elkana, who is lying on the ground. An intravenous drip is hooked up to the wall next to Elkana.
Yosef-Chaim Ohana was captured while trying to help others flee Hamas gunmen [The Hostages and Missing Families Forum]
Avinatan Or, 32, was kidnapped at the festival along with his girlfriend, Noa Argamani, but they were immediately separated. Noa and three other hostages were rescued in an Israeli military operation in central Gaza in June 2024. In March 2025, Avinatan’s family said they had received a sign that he was still alive. His British-Israeli mother, Ditza, has said she just wants to put her ear to his chest and hear his heartbeat again.
Maxim Herkin, 37, is an Israel-Russian dual national who was invited to the festival at the last moment. His two friends were among the 378 people killed in the attack. In April 2025, Maxim appeared in a Hamas video along with Bar Kupershtein – the first signs of life from either man since they were taken hostage. The following month, Maxim was seen alone in another video and appeared to be bandaged up. Hamas said was the result of an Israeli air strike.
Maxim Herkin is one of two dual nationals believed to still be alive in Hamas captivity [The Hostages and Missing Families Forum]
Bar Kupershtein, 23, was working at the festival and stayed behind during the attack to help treat casualties. He told his grandmother that he would head home as soon as they were finished. But he was later identified him in a video of hostages. They heard no further information about him until April 2025, when he was seen in a video with Maxim Herkin.
Segev Kalfon, 27, was running away from the festival with a friend when he was taken hostage by Hamas gunmen. Two months later, the Israeli military found a video of the abduction. In February 2025, released hostage Ohad Ben Ami told Segev’s father, Kobi, that they had been held captive with four other men in a tunnel in “terrible conditions”.
Evyatar David, 24, was at the festival and on the morning of the attacks. He texted the family to say “they are bombarding the party”. His family say they later received a text from an unknown number, containing video footage of Evyatar handcuffed on the floor of a dark room. In August 2025, Hamas published a video of an emaciated and weak Evyatar in a tunnel. The footage caused outrage in Israel and deep concern among his family. “He’s a human skeleton. He was being starved to the point where he can be dead at any moment,” said his brother Ilay.
Rom Braslabski, 21, was working on security for the festival. According to an account published by Hostages and Missing Families Forum, he was trying to rescue an injured person in the attack when he was caught in a volley of fire. In August 2025, Palestinian Islamic Jihad published a video of Rom, in which he is seen crying as he says he has run out of food and water. He says he is unable to stand or walk, and “is at death’s door”. Medical experts said he was suffering from “deliberate, prolonged, and systematic starvation”.
Hostages whose conditions are unknown
Tamir Nimrodi, 20, was an education officer in the IDF at the Erez Crossing on 7 October. The last time his mother, Herut, saw him was in a video of his abduction posted on social media that day. Since then, she has received no signs of life and his fate is unknown.
Bipin Joshi, 24, a Nepalese agriculture student, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Alumim. Footage from 7 October 2023 showed him walking inside al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. His family received no signs of life for a year, until the Israeli military shared a video showing him in captivity around November 2023. The family released the footage just before the new ceasefire was announced, describing it as “proof of life”.
Bipin Joshi is one of two men whose status is uncertain [The Hostages and Missing Families Forum]
Hostages who are confirmed dead
Tamir Adar, 38, was a member of Nir Oz’s community security squad who was killed while fighting Hamas gunmen during the 7 October attack, his kibbutz announced in January 2024. The body of the farmer and father-of-two is being held by Hamas in Gaza.
Sonthaya Akrasri, 30, was a Thai agricultural worker killed in the attack on Kibbutz Be’eri, Thailand’s foreign ministry said in May 2024, citing the available evidence. His body is being held by Hamas in Gaza.
Muhammad al-Atarash, 39, was a sergeant-major in the IDF and served as a tracker. In June 2024, the IDF confirmed the father-of-13 from the Bedouin village of Sawa was killed while fighting Hamas gunmen near Nahal Oz on 7 October and that his body was being held in Gaza.
Sahar Baruch, 24, was kidnapped from Be’eri. In January 2024, the IDF announced that he had been killed during a rescue attempt by Israeli forces in Gaza. It was not clear whether he was killed by Hamas or Israeli gunfire.
Uriel Baruch, 35, was abducted from the Nova festival. In March 2024, the father-of-two’s family said they had been informed by the IDF that he was killed in captivity in Gaza.
Inbar Hayman, 27, was kidnapped during the attack on the Nova festival and was killed by Hamas in captivity, her family said. She is the last female hostage being held.
Inbar Hayman, believed to be dead, is the last woman being held by Hamas [The Hostages and Missing Families Forum]
Itay Chen, 19, was an Israeli-American who was serving as a soldier in the IDF on 7 October. The IDF said he was killed during Hamas’s attack on Nahal Oz base and that his body was taken back to Gaza as a hostage.
Amiram Cooper, 85, was abducted from Nir Oz. The IDF said in June 2024 that he had been killed along with three other hostages – Nadav Popplewell, Chaim Peri and Yoram Metzger – months earlier in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. The IDF said it had been operating in the area at the time but did not confirm how they were killed. Hamas had earlier claimed they were killed by an IDF strike.
Oz Daniel, 19, was a sergeant in the IDF’s 7th Armoured Brigade and was killed during a battle with Hamas gunmen near the Gaza perimeter fence on 7 October. His body was taken to Gaza as a hostage, according to the IDF.
Ronen Engel, 54, was kidnapped from Nir Oz on 7 October along with his wife, Karina Engel-Bart, and their daughters, Mika and Yuval. Karina, Mika and Yuval were released during the ceasefire in November 2023. The following month, the IDF confirmed that Ronen has been killed in captivity.
Meny Godard, 73, was killed during the attack on Be’eri with his wife, Ayelet, and his body was taken to Gaza as a hostage, his family said in February 2024. In March 2025, the IDF said some of Meny’s remains had been found at a Palestinian Islamic Jihad outpost in Rafah, but that the group was believed to be holding the rest.
Meny Godard’s body was taken into Gaza after Hamas killed him alongside his wife [The Hostages and Missing Families Forum]
Ran Gvili, 24, was a sergeant in the Israel Police who was killed while fighting Hamas-led gunmen in Kibbutz Alumim on 7 October. His body was subsequently taken to Gaza as a hostage, according to the IDF.
Tal Haimi, 41, was part of Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak’s rapid response team and was killed during the attack there on 7 October. The father-of-four’s body was taken to Gaza, where it is still being held.
Asaf Hamami, 41, was a colonel in the IDF and commander of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade. He was killed near Kibbutz Nirim on 7 October and his body is being held in Gaza, according to the IDF.
Guy Illouz, 26, was shot twice during the attack on the Nova festival and died of his wounds after being taken hostage, his family said. Released hostages are said to have confirmed his death.
Guy Illouz died in captivity as a result of injuries sustained in the attack on the Nova festival [The Hostages and Missing Families Forum]
Eitan Levi, 53, was a taxi driver who was killed by Hamas gunmen on a road close to the Gaza perimeter on 7 October. His body was then taken to Gaza, where Palestinians were filmed beating and kicking it.
Eliyahu Margalit, 75, was killed by Hamas fighters in Nir Oz on 7 October, the IDF confirmed in December 2023. His body is being held in Gaza.
Joshua Mollel, 21, was a Tanzanian student who was undertaking an agricultural internship at Kibbutz Nahal Oz when it was attacked on 7 October. The Tanzanian government confirmed in December 2023 that he was killed that day and that his body was being held by Hamas.
Omer Neutra, 21, an Israeli-American and grandson of Holocaust survivors, was serving as an IDF tank commander near Gaza when Hamas attacked on 7 October. The IDF later said he was killed that day and his body taken to Gaza.
Daniel Peretz, 22, was a captain in the IDF’s 7th Armoured Brigade. Originally from South Africa, he was killed in an attack on his tank near Nahal Oz on 7 October and his body was taken to Gaza, the IDF said.
Dror Or, 48, and his wife, Yonat, were killed in the attack on Be’eri, the kibbutz confirmed in February 2024. Two of his three children, Noam and Alma, were taken hostage and were released as part of the November 2023 ceasefire deal. Dror’s body is being held in Gaza.
Dror Or was killed alongside his wife [The Hostages and Missing Families Forum]
Suthisak Rintalak, 43, was a Thai agricultural worker killed in the attack on Kibbutz Be’eri, Thailand’s foreign ministry said in May 2024, citing the available evidence. His body is being held by Hamas in Gaza.
Lior Rudaeff, 61, was killed while attempting to defend Nir Yitzhak from attack on 7 October, the kibbutz said. His body is being held as a hostage.
Yossi Sharabi, 53, was kidnapped from Be’eri along with his brother, Eli. In January 2024, the kibbutz announced that the father-of-three had been killed in captivity in Gaza. The following month, the IDF said an investigation had found that he was likely to have been killed when a building collapsed following an Israeli strike on another building nearby. His body is being held by Hamas. Eli, who was released in February 2025, told the BBC last week how important it was for the family to have a funeral and closure.
Arie Zalmanowicz, 85, was abducted from Nir Oz on 7 October. In November 2023, Hamas released a video showing him saying he felt unwell. The following month his kibbutz said he had died in captivity.
Hadar Goldin, 23, was a lieutenant in the IDF’s Givati Brigade who was killed in combat in Gaza in 2014. His body has been held hostage by Hamas since then.
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Hamas releases first group of 7 hostages to Red Cross in Gaza, Israel says | Special Report
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Israel prepares to welcome the last living hostages from Gaza
Hamas released seven hostages into the custody of the Red Cross on Monday, the first to be released as part of a breakthrough ceasefire after two years of war between Israel and Hamas in the devastated Gaza Strip.There was no immediate information on their condition. Hamas has said 20 living hostages will be exchanged for over 1,900 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.Video above: Israel prepares to welcome the last living hostages from Gaza as a ceasefire holdsFamilies and friends of hostages broke out into wild cheers as Israeli television channels announced that the hostages were in the hands of the Red Cross. Tens of thousands of Israelis were watching the transfers at public screenings across the country, with a major event being held in Tel Aviv.Palestinians awaited the release of hundreds of prisoners held by Israel. U.S. President Donald Trump was arriving in the region along with other leaders to discuss the U.S.-proposed deal and postwar plans. A surge of humanitarian aid was expected into famine-stricken Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people have been left homeless.While major questions remain about the future of Hamas and Gaza, the exchange of hostages and prisoners marked a key step toward ending the deadliest war ever between Israel and the militant group.The ceasefire, which began noon Friday (0900 GMT), is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and the Hamas militant group.The war began with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, that killed some 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage. The war in Gaza has killed over 67,000 Palestinians, local health officials there say.Israelis on Monday prepared to welcome home the last 20 living hostages from devastated Gaza and mourn the return of the dead, in the key exchange of the breakthrough ceasefire after two years of war.Palestinians awaited the release of hundreds of prisoners held by Israel. U.S. President Donald Trump was arriving in the region along with other leaders to discuss the U.S.-proposed deal and postwar plans. A surge of humanitarian aid was expected into famine-stricken Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people have been left homeless.While major questions remain about the future of Hamas and Gaza, the exchange of hostages and prisoners marked a key step toward ending the deadliest war ever between Israel and the militant group.Living hostages expected firstHamas released a list early Monday morning of the 20 living hostages it will free as part of the ceasefire.Major Israeli TV stations were airing special overnight broadcasts ahead of the hostages’ release as anticipation grew. People began to gather near a large screen in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv before dawn.“It’s very exciting,” said Meir Kaller, who spent a sleepless night there.Video below: President Trump to visit Middle East amid U.S.-mediated ceasefireThe hostages’ return caps a painful chapter for Israel. Since they were captured in the October 2023 Hamas attack that ignited the war, newscasts have marked their days in captivity and Israelis have worn yellow pins and ribbons in solidarity. Tens of thousands have joined their families in weekly demonstrations calling for their release.As the war dragged on, demonstrators accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of dragging his feet for political purposes, even as he accused Hamas of intransigence. Last week, under heavy international pressure and increasing isolation for Israel, the bitter enemies agreed to the ceasefire.With the hostages’ release, the sense of urgency around the war for many Israelis will be effectively over.Israel expects the living hostages to be released together Monday. They will be handed to the International Committee of the Red Cross and then to the Israeli military, which will take them to the Reim military base to be reunited with families.It is unlikely that the remains of up to 28 other hostages will be returned at the same time. An international task force will work to locate deceased hostages who are not returned within 72 hours, said Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for the hostages and the missing.The timing has not been announced for the release of Palestinian prisoners. They include 250 people serving life sentences for convictions in attacks on Israelis, in addition to 1,700 seized from Gaza during the war and held without charge. They will be returned to the West Bank or Gaza or sent into exile.While Israel considers the prisoners to be terrorists, Palestinians view them as freedom fighters against Israeli occupation. Israel has warned Palestinians in the West Bank against celebrating after people are released, according to a prisoner’s family and a Palestinian official familiar with the plans. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared retribution.Red Cross vehicles were seen driving in both Gaza and Israel early Monday.Trump in Israel and EgyptTrump was first visiting Israel, where a White House schedule said he will meet with families of the hostages and speak at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. Vice President JD Vance said Trump was likely to meet with newly freed hostages.“The war is over,” Trump asserted to reporters as he departed, adding he thought the ceasefire would hold.Trump will continue to Egypt, where President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi’s office said he will co-chair a “peace summit” Monday with regional and international leaders.Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, will attend, a judge and adviser to Abbas, Mahmoud al-Habbash, told The Associated Press. Netanyahu has rejected any role in postwar Gaza for Abbas, though the U.S. plan leaves the possibility open if his Palestinian Authority undergoes reforms. Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007.Other key questions in the ceasefire deal have yet to be resolved, including the future governance of Gaza and who will pay for a billion-dollar reconstruction process. Israel wants to ensure that the weakened Hamas disarms, and Netanyahu has warned Israel could do it “the hard way.” Hamas refuses to disarm and wants to ensure Israel pulls its troops completely out of Gaza.The Israeli military has withdrawn from much of Gaza City, the southern city of Khan Younis and other areas. Troops remain in most of the southern city of Rafah, towns of Gaza’s far north and the wide strip along Gaza’s border with Israel.Under the U.S. plan, an international body will govern Gaza, overseeing Palestinian technocrats running day-to-day affairs. Hamas has said Gaza’s government should be worked out among Palestinians.The plan calls for an Arab-led international security force in Gaza, along with Palestinian police trained by Egypt and Jordan. It said Israeli forces would leave areas as those forces deploy. About 200 U.S. troops are now in Israel to monitor the ceasefire.The plan also mentions the possibility of a future Palestinian state, another nonstarter for Netanyahu.‘Much of Gaza is a wasteland’The United Nations has said Israel so far has approved 190,000 metric tons of aid to enter Gaza, which was besieged after Israel ended the previous ceasefire in March.The Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid in Gaza said the amount of aid entering was expected to increase Sunday to around 600 trucks per day, as stipulated in the agreement.“Much of Gaza is a wasteland,” U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher told the AP on Sunday. He said the U.N. has a plan for the next two months to restore basic medical and other services, bring in thousands of tons of food and fuel and remove rubble.Two years of warThe war began when Hamas-led militants launched a surprise attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage.Video below: Vigil held for Israeli hostages in Northwest BaltimoreIn Israel’s ensuing offensive, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the deaths were women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the U.N. and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.The toll will grow as bodies are pulled from rubble previously made inaccessible by fighting.The war has destroyed large swaths of Gaza and displaced about 90% of its 2 million residents. It has also triggered other conflicts in the region, sparked worldwide protests and led to allegations of genocide that Israel denies.Federman reported from Truro, Massachusetts. Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Jalal Bwaitel in Ramallah, West Bank, and Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.
CAIRO, Cairo Governorate —Hamas released seven hostages into the custody of the Red Cross on Monday, the first to be released as part of a breakthrough ceasefire after two years of war between Israel and Hamas in the devastated Gaza Strip.
There was no immediate information on their condition. Hamas has said 20 living hostages will be exchanged for over 1,900 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Video above: Israel prepares to welcome the last living hostages from Gaza as a ceasefire holds
Families and friends of hostages broke out into wild cheers as Israeli television channels announced that the hostages were in the hands of the Red Cross. Tens of thousands of Israelis were watching the transfers at public screenings across the country, with a major event being held in Tel Aviv.
Palestinians awaited the release of hundreds of prisoners held by Israel. U.S. President Donald Trump was arriving in the region along with other leaders to discuss the U.S.-proposed deal and postwar plans. A surge of humanitarian aid was expected into famine-stricken Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people have been left homeless.
While major questions remain about the future of Hamas and Gaza, the exchange of hostages and prisoners marked a key step toward ending the deadliest war ever between Israel and the militant group.
The ceasefire, which began noon Friday (0900 GMT), is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and the Hamas militant group.
The war began with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, that killed some 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage. The war in Gaza has killed over 67,000 Palestinians, local health officials there say.
Israelis on Monday prepared to welcome home the last 20 living hostages from devastated Gaza and mourn the return of the dead, in the key exchange of the breakthrough ceasefire after two years of war.
Palestinians awaited the release of hundreds of prisoners held by Israel. U.S. President Donald Trump was arriving in the region along with other leaders to discuss the U.S.-proposed deal and postwar plans. A surge of humanitarian aid was expected into famine-stricken Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people have been left homeless.
While major questions remain about the future of Hamas and Gaza, the exchange of hostages and prisoners marked a key step toward ending the deadliest war ever between Israel and the militant group.
Living hostages expected first
Hamas released a list early Monday morning of the 20 living hostages it will free as part of the ceasefire.
Major Israeli TV stations were airing special overnight broadcasts ahead of the hostages’ release as anticipation grew. People began to gather near a large screen in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv before dawn.
“It’s very exciting,” said Meir Kaller, who spent a sleepless night there.
Video below: President Trump to visit Middle East amid U.S.-mediated ceasefire
The hostages’ return caps a painful chapter for Israel. Since they were captured in the October 2023 Hamas attack that ignited the war, newscasts have marked their days in captivity and Israelis have worn yellow pins and ribbons in solidarity. Tens of thousands have joined their families in weekly demonstrations calling for their release.
As the war dragged on, demonstrators accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of dragging his feet for political purposes, even as he accused Hamas of intransigence. Last week, under heavy international pressure and increasing isolation for Israel, the bitter enemies agreed to the ceasefire.
With the hostages’ release, the sense of urgency around the war for many Israelis will be effectively over.
Israel expects the living hostages to be released together Monday. They will be handed to the International Committee of the Red Cross and then to the Israeli military, which will take them to the Reim military base to be reunited with families.
It is unlikely that the remains of up to 28 other hostages will be returned at the same time. An international task force will work to locate deceased hostages who are not returned within 72 hours, said Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for the hostages and the missing.
The timing has not been announced for the release of Palestinian prisoners. They include 250 people serving life sentences for convictions in attacks on Israelis, in addition to 1,700 seized from Gaza during the war and held without charge. They will be returned to the West Bank or Gaza or sent into exile.
While Israel considers the prisoners to be terrorists, Palestinians view them as freedom fighters against Israeli occupation. Israel has warned Palestinians in the West Bank against celebrating after people are released, according to a prisoner’s family and a Palestinian official familiar with the plans. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared retribution.
Red Cross vehicles were seen driving in both Gaza and Israel early Monday.
Trump in Israel and Egypt
Trump was first visiting Israel, where a White House schedule said he will meet with families of the hostages and speak at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. Vice President JD Vance said Trump was likely to meet with newly freed hostages.
“The war is over,” Trump asserted to reporters as he departed, adding he thought the ceasefire would hold.
Trump will continue to Egypt, where President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi’s office said he will co-chair a “peace summit” Monday with regional and international leaders.
Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, will attend, a judge and adviser to Abbas, Mahmoud al-Habbash, told The Associated Press. Netanyahu has rejected any role in postwar Gaza for Abbas, though the U.S. plan leaves the possibility open if his Palestinian Authority undergoes reforms. Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007.
Other key questions in the ceasefire deal have yet to be resolved, including the future governance of Gaza and who will pay for a billion-dollar reconstruction process. Israel wants to ensure that the weakened Hamas disarms, and Netanyahu has warned Israel could do it “the hard way.” Hamas refuses to disarm and wants to ensure Israel pulls its troops completely out of Gaza.
The Israeli military has withdrawn from much of Gaza City, the southern city of Khan Younis and other areas. Troops remain in most of the southern city of Rafah, towns of Gaza’s far north and the wide strip along Gaza’s border with Israel.
Under the U.S. plan, an international body will govern Gaza, overseeing Palestinian technocrats running day-to-day affairs. Hamas has said Gaza’s government should be worked out among Palestinians.
The plan calls for an Arab-led international security force in Gaza, along with Palestinian police trained by Egypt and Jordan. It said Israeli forces would leave areas as those forces deploy. About 200 U.S. troops are now in Israel to monitor the ceasefire.
The plan also mentions the possibility of a future Palestinian state, another nonstarter for Netanyahu.
‘Much of Gaza is a wasteland’
The United Nations has said Israel so far has approved 190,000 metric tons of aid to enter Gaza, which was besieged after Israel ended the previous ceasefire in March.
The Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid in Gaza said the amount of aid entering was expected to increase Sunday to around 600 trucks per day, as stipulated in the agreement.
“Much of Gaza is a wasteland,” U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher told the AP on Sunday. He said the U.N. has a plan for the next two months to restore basic medical and other services, bring in thousands of tons of food and fuel and remove rubble.
Two years of war
The war began when Hamas-led militants launched a surprise attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage.
Video below: Vigil held for Israeli hostages in Northwest Baltimore
In Israel’s ensuing offensive, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the deaths were women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the U.N. and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.
The toll will grow as bodies are pulled from rubble previously made inaccessible by fighting.
The war has destroyed large swaths of Gaza and displaced about 90% of its 2 million residents. It has also triggered other conflicts in the region, sparked worldwide protests and led to allegations of genocide that Israel denies.
Federman reported from Truro, Massachusetts. Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Jalal Bwaitel in Ramallah, West Bank, and Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.
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Hostages freed, prisoners released, as Trump hails ‘golden age’ in Mideast
REIM, Israel — Israelis and Palestinians cried, cheered and gave thanks Monday as Hamas militants released their last 20 living hostages in exchange for more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
It was the first phase of a ceasefire deal put in place last month even as President Trump — the driving force behind the agreement — gave what amounted to a victory speech in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, before departing for a peace summit in Egypt.
Greeted with a standing ovation before he said a word, Trump heralded the deal as ushering in “a golden age” for Israel and the Middle East.
“After so many years of unceasing war and endless danger, today, the skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still, and the sun rises on a Holy Land that is finally at peace,” he said.
Palestinians in the West Bank city of Ramallah celebrate the release of prisoners by Israel on Oct. 13, 2025.
(Issam H.S. Alasmar / Anadolu / Getty Images)
His words belied the many complications facing an agreement that remains far from a comprehensive road map that could definitively end a war that killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and pulverized much of the Gaza Strip, even as it scarred Israeli society with the deaths of 1,200 people and brought unprecedented international condemnation of the country’s leadership.
The night before the scheduled morning handover, tens of thousands Israelis streamed into Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, as well as to the roadside near southern Israel’s Reim military base, where the hostages were to be brought after their release.
A party atmosphere prevailed on the road to Reim, as Sikorsky Super Stallion helicopters landed in a dusty field to the cheers of a nearby crowd, which raised Israeli and American flags and swayed to a song whose lyrics promised, “I’m coming home, tell the world I’m coming home.”
Passing cars honked in salute, with one passenger rolling down her window and shouting, “The kidnapped are returning!”
“Since Thursday my smile has been stuck, my jaw hurts from it, after two years of not doing it at all,” said Sarit Kenny, 65, a resident of a kibbutz nearby who said she had attended a rally every week since the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, to call for the hostages’ return.
She pointed to the American flag in her hand, saying she wanted it to be an expression of her appreciation of Trump.
Matan Zangauker is reunited with his mother at the initial reception point after his release by the militant group Hamas.
(Israel Defense Forces / Associated Press)
“He’s the one who actually did this. He did what our prime minister didn’t do,” she said.
Jonathan Kaneh, 46, who owned a polymer factory in the kibbutz of Orim, saw in the release a more somber moment. On Oct. 7, Hamas militants on a truck shot at him as he was riding his bicycle; the bullet grazed his arm but he was otherwise unhurt. At the same time, the war precipitated by the attack had forced him to shutter his business.
He had arrived early at the site to mark the start of the attack two years ago, which began at 6:29 a.m.
“It was important to me to come here, to close this circle. A lot of people, their lives stopped in this place,” he said, his voice turning deep with emotion.
For many others, the day represented a moment combining religion and the sense of history, with the hostages’ release falling on the religious holiday of Simchat Torah, just as their kidnapping had been on Simchat Torah two years earlier.
“It’s my luck to be here now, and most of the people are feeling same, that we had to be here,” said 70-year-old Uzi Bar-On, as he sat on a lawn chair and made coffee on a portable stove, with Jimmy, his dog, by his side.
At a gathering at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, people react in anticipation of the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
(Oded Balilty / Associated Press)
Bar-On said that the last two years had seen him consumed with thoughts of revenge against Hamas and the people of Gaza, but that the hostage release could help Israelis to move on.
“First I want to see the hostages. When I see them with my own eyes, not through the press, then maybe I can start to think differently,” he said.
When the convoy of vans and military vehicles bearing the first group passed by, the crowd erupted in a flurry of cheers.
It seemed timed to coincide with the moment Air Force One was about to land at Ben Gurion International Airport, before Trump would be whisked away to Jerusalem to meet hostage families before his Knesset address.
Aside from touting the achievements of his administration (and impugning former Presidents Obama and Biden), Trump gave a full-throated endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a deeply unpopular figure with many Israelis, who blame their leader for embroiling the country in the war in the first place and accuse him of prolonging it for his own political purposes.
But Trump insisted that Netanyahu did “a great job,” and diving into Israel’s domestic affairs, urged the president to pardon Netanyahu of corruption charges he’s facing. Trump also heaped praise on envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner for their efforts in brokering the deal, while musing about the idea of Israel making peace with Iran.
Later he flew to Egypt for a summit in Sharm el Sheikh, where he met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi and a raft of Arab and Islamic leaders to discuss the next steps for Gaza.
“We have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to put the old feuds and bitter hatreds behind us,” Trump said at the summit, which saw Sisi award Egypt’s highest civilian honor to Trump.
Netanyahu did not attend, with his office saying that the timing conflicted with the Jewish holiday.
President Trump addresses the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in Jerusalem on Oct. 13, 2025.
(Evelyn Hockstein / Associated Press)
The Trump-brokered deal stipulates Hamas will release the bodies of 28 hostages who died in captivity, with each one returned in exchange for 15 bodies of Palestinians killed during Oct. 7.
Four bodies were released Monday. In recent days, Hamas said it was facing difficulties retrieving corpses from the rubble of Gaza’s war-ravaged buildings.
A few hours after the release of the second batch of hostages, buses carrying about 1,700 Gaza residents detained in Israel without charge over the last two years left for the Palestinian enclave, along with 250 prisoners serving life sentences for convictions in attacks on Israelis.
Two busloads of 88 people were released in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where families assembled at the Ramallah Cultural Palace — a place normally reserved for performances — to greet relatives, some they hadn’t seen in decades.
When the buses arrived, Palestinian security forces tried to maintain order but were soon overwhelmed by the crowd. The prisoners and detainees emerged with their heads shaved, looking gaunt and pale in the afternoon sun — a measure, many said, of the harsh treatment they received.
Despite their joy at the release, few were willing to be interviewed, saying Israeli authorities had warned them to not celebrate or speak to the media under threat of rearrest.
“When I saw all the people here, we forgot all of our pain. But our brothers detained inside are still suffering,” said one released prisoner who had spent 20 years in an Israeli jail. One hand held a cigarette, while the other carried a phone he was using to talk to his niece for the first time.
“I’m tired, but thank God for everything,” said Yahya Nimr Ahmad Ibrahim, a Fatah member arrested in 2003 and sentenced to 23 years. Wrapped in a Palestinian black-and-white kaffiyeh, he looked frail as family members carried him on their shoulders in celebration.
The list of Palestinian detainees to be released was a point of contention up to the very last minute, according to Palestinian rights groups, which count at least 100 additional prisoners with lifetime sentences who would not be released.
The head of the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs, Raed Abu Al-Hummus, said the commission had received hundreds of phone calls from people enraged that their loved ones weren’t being released.
Palestinians rejoice over their release from Israeli prisons.
(Ayman Nobani / DPA / Picture Alliance / AP Images)
For others, the prisoner release was bittersweet: 154 of the 250 prisoners were to be exiled to Gaza, Egypt, Malaysia or Turkey, and with their family members subject to travel restrictions, it was unlikely they would see them anytime soon.
Elsewhere in the crowd, bewilderment laced with anger when families who had been informed that their loved ones would be released discovered they weren’t on the buses after all.
“We don’t know what happened. The Israeli army called me last night, told me my brother was coming here. They even came and smashed up our house so we wouldn’t celebrate. Then we heard he’s to be exiled, but no one knows where he is,” said Raed Imran, the brother of Mohammad Imran, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad member who was serving 13 life sentences.
Beside him was his sister, Ibtisam, crying.
“We prepared all his favorite foods, all of them,” she said, barely able to keep her voice steady from crying. “We’ve been working since two days for this moment. We even have the dishes in the car, ready for him when he came out.”
Imran began to tear up as well.
“We just don’t know. No one has told us anything,” he said.
As the afternoon sun waned, the crowd began to thin out, save for a few families asking anyone who seemed in authority to give them information about their missing loved ones. But soon enough, they too walked away.
Nabih Bulos
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Live updates: Israeli hostages set to be released by Hamas as Gaza ceasefire remains in effect
Egyptian foreign minister says he is “confident” first phase of Gaza peace plan will be implemented
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Sunday that Egypt is “confident that the first phase of the Trump peace plan will be implemented” and will be honored by all parties involved.
“We are very hopeful that the first phase will be completed, in all honesty, from the two parties, and we are in full contact with the Palestinians, with the Hamas,” Abdelatty told “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
Abdelatty confirmed that Egypt will be sending troops to Gaza “within specific parameters.” He also said that Egypt supports the deployment of international troops into Gaza for security and stabilization.
“We are confident, though we have to draw lessons from the past, that without solving the Palestinian cause, which is the core of the conflict in the region, without respecting the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians to have their own statehood, you know, there is no peace and stability in the region,” Abdelatty said.
Abdelatty indicated that President Trump’s peace plan referred to Palestinian statehood, although the final version of the plan is unclear on Palestinian statehood.
Watch Margaret Brennan’s full interview with Abdelatty here.
Family of Israeli hostage “in shock” over imminent release
Alana Zeitchik, a relative of Israeli hostage David Cunio, said she is “nervous” about the condition he will be in when he is freed from captivity.
Cunio’s wife, Sharon Aloni Cunio, and his twin daughters were held captive by Hamas and released in November 2023.
Alexi Rosenfeld / Getty Images / ALEXI ROSENFELN
Zeitchik said Cunio’s wife received guidance on how to tell her daughters that their father is coming home and that they were “in shock” after hearing the news.
Zeitchik told The Associated Press: “We won’t really be able to exhale and have a sigh of relief until he is back on Israeli soil.”
Thousands of Palestinians return home amid ceasefire
Tens of thousands of Palestinians began their trek back to the heavily destroyed northern Gaza Strip over the weekend after the ceasefire deal went into effect.
A steady stream of people, many on foot, crammed onto a coastal road in the central Gaza Strip, heading north to see what might remain of their homes. It was a repeat of emotional scenes from an earlier ceasefire in January.
Khames Alrefi/Anadolu via Getty Images
Palestinians expressed relief that the war may end, though they are tempered with concerns about the future and lingering pain from the staggering death and destruction.
“There wasn’t much joy, but the ceasefire somewhat eased the pain of death and bloodshed, and the pain of our loved ones and brothers who suffered in the war,” Jamal Mesbah, who was displaced from the north, told the AP.
The destruction they find this time will be even greater, after Israel waged a new offensive in Gaza City, in the north, in recent weeks.
—CBS/AP
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Reflecting on Oct. 7 and 2 years of Gaza war with Israeli hostages set to come home
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Reflecting on Oct. 7 and 2 years of Gaza war with Israeli hostages set to come home – CBS News
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Hamas official: Israel altered prisoner lists, warns Netanyahu will renew war
Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad accused Israel of changing prisoner lists under the deal, warning that Netanyahu may resume the Gaza war
Senior Hamas political bureau member Ghazi Hamad, speaking to Al Jazeera from Cairo on Sunday night, accused Israel of “playing with and changing” the lists of Palestinian prisoners slated for release under the emerging ceasefire-for-hostages deal, and warned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would “return to aggression” in Gaza without sustained international pressure.
He urged Arab states and mediators to “restrain the Zionist madness” and ensure full implementation of the agreement.
Hamad said Hamas was coordinating with Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey, and in contact with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), to carry out the exchange “as stated in the agreement,” but alleged that Israeli delays in verifying names on documents sent to the parties were creating obstacles.
He nevertheless said the process was “moving in a good direction” and that Hamas would “do everything we can” to make both the prisoner exchange and the wider deal succeed.
His claims came amid mounting disputes over prisoner lists. Israel’s Justice Ministry published 250 names of Palestinian prisoners set for release as part of the deal, while Palestinian officials said no final roster had been agreed upon, highlighting ongoing friction over the criteria and sequencing of releases.
Ghazi Hamad, member of Hamas Political Office, delivers remarks on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, during a press conference in Beirut, Lebanon, October 28, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/AMR ALFIKY)
Al Jazeera Arabic reporting on Sunday also amplified Palestinian assertions that Israel was trying to impose its own terms on the prisoner file, with sources saying Hamas continued contacts via Cairo, Doha, and Ankara to amend the Israeli-published list.
The ICRC has reiterated that any exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners must be conducted safely and with dignity, underscoring the organization’s neutral role in transfers and family reunifications under the ceasefire framework.
20 Israeli hostages to be freed
The remarks came as Israel and Hamas prepared for the next phase of the agreement. Israeli officials and international media reported that 20 living Israeli hostages were expected to be freed on Monday in parallel with large-scale prisoner releases, part of a broader truce architecture brokered with the help of Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey.
Hamad’s interview echoed past Hamas statements describing Netanyahu as a “war criminal,” rhetoric the group has used repeatedly while rejecting Israeli conditions tied to disarmament or postwar governance arrangements in Gaza.
Under the ceasefire terms reported over the weekend, Israel has been transferring detainees in preparation for releases while international agencies scale up humanitarian operations inside Gaza. Disagreements over specific prisoner names and categories have persisted in recent days, including last-minute changes approved by Israel’s government to the first batches.
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Anti-Hamas militia leader Hossam al-Astal says he’ll support Tony Blair in ‘Gaza after Hamas’
Astal has reportedly been able to “liberate an area from Hamas occupation,” managing to establish a “safe city” of almost one square mile in Khan Yunis.
Hossam al-Astal, leader of one of the anti-Hamas militias in Gaza, said in an interview with The Telegraph that he was willing to cooperate with former British prime minister Tony Blair in the establishment of a security force inside Gaza.
Astal has reportedly been able to “liberate an area from Hamas occupation.” “We’re using mainly handguns and AK-47s taken from Hamas,” Astal said, and added, “I can’t say how many fighters we have. Right now, that’s very sensitive – we’re in a war.”
According to the report, which was not confirmed by the IDF, Astal’s men have managed to establish a “safe city” of almost one square mile that works as a refuge for 200 people and is “free of Hamas.”
Astal’s comments also assure that he received logistical cooperation from the IDF, something that the military did not comment on, while also receiving freedom of action, protection from air strikes, and bespoke access to aid.
Palestinians walk past rubble as they return to their neighborhood, following Israeli forces’ withdrawal from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip October 11, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)
The day after Hamas in Gaza
Astal worked until 2007 as a security official in the Palestinian Authority (PA), until Hamas’s coup of 2007 that saw the expulsion of the PA from the strip. He also survived an execution attempt and even managed to escape one of Hama’s prisons during the post-October 7 chaos in Gaza.
“Tony Blair is a decent politician,” he told theTelegraph. “I think his help can be useful, especially if it’s coming with an international agreement or mandate. We are ready to cooperate with anyone who will bring help to our people in Gaza.”
The article points out that this might be “jumping the gun,” taking into account that the current deal only covers a partial retirement of Israeli forces from the strip in exchange for all the remaining hostages.
“We will not stop fighting Hamas,” Astal insisted. “We have martyrs – Hamas has our blood on its hands. Even if Israel signs a treaty and stops the war with Hamas, we will not stop.”
“I am in touch with tens of former PA officers around Gaza, and we are all ready and waiting for zero hour, the moment when we are all going to liberate the Gaza Strip from Hamas,” he also warned.
