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  • Trump makes the case for his foreign policy approach at State of the Union

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    President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address tilted heavily on domestic issues, but he also made the case for his foreign policy efforts to Americans who are increasingly uneasy about his priorities.The president cheered brokering a fragile ceasefire deal in Gaza and his team’s bringing home hostages taken by Hamas militants, capturing autocratic leader Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and pressing fellow NATO members to increase defense spending among his biggest wins. He also warned Iran anew as he builds up U.S. forces in the region and weighs whether to carry out new military action against Tehran.At a moment when polls show the American public increasingly concerned about the economy, Trump’s assignment Tuesday evening also was to cut through thickening skepticism that he’s staying true to his “America First” philosophy after a year in which his focus was often far from home. It’s a wariness shared by some who once counted themselves among Trump’s closest allies.But Trump attempted to make the case that he’s taking the right approach balancing domestic policy concerns while using America’s military might when needed.”As president, I will make peace wherever I can, but I will never hesitate to confront threats to America wherever we must,” Trump said.Sixty-one percent of U.S. adults said they disapprove of how Trump is handling foreign policy, while 56% say Trump has “gone too far” in using the U.S. military to intervene in other countries, according to surveys from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research conducted earlier this month and in January.Here are a few moments where Trump sought to explain his foreign policy approach 13 months into his second term:Why he is talking about attacking Iran againTrump explained to Americans why he’s pondering military action, just eight months after he claimed that U.S. strikes had “obliterated” three critical Iranian nuclear facilities and left “the bully of the Middle East” with no choice but to make peace.”We wiped it out and they want to start all over again. And they’re at this moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions,” Trump said. “We are in negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words: We will never have a nuclear weapon.”Earlier Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X: “Our fundamental convictions are crystal clear: Iran will under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon.”Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are scheduled to meet again Thursday in Geneva with Iranian officials.But the pathway to a deal seems murky as the authoritarian clerics who rule Iran say they will only discuss the nuclear issue. The U.S. and Israel also want to address Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for regional armed proxies, including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis.Trump struggles to end the war in UkraineTuesday also marked the four-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.On the campaign trail, Trump boasted that he would be able to end the war in one day, but he has struggled to fulfill his pledge.He made scant mention of the war in his record-setting 108-minute speech.”The killing and slaughter between Russia and Ukraine, where 25,000 soldiers are dying each and every month,” Trump said, reiterating that he’s working to end the war.Russian and Ukrainian officials are negotiating in U.S.-mediated talks but are at loggerheads over key issues, including Russian demands that Kyiv concede Ukrainian territory still in its control and who will get the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe.Trump appears eager for a peace deal before the U.S. midterm elections despite the challenges. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the White House has set a June deadline for the war’s end and will likely pressure both sides to meet it.Video below: Catch up on the State of the Union address in 60 secondsAnother victory lap on Maduro and focus on Western HemisphereTrump again celebrated last month’s capture of the Venezuelan leader in an audacious military operation, saying the U.S. “just received from our new friend and partner, Venezuela, more than 80 million barrels of oil.” The Trump administration had previously said it was orchestrating the effort to sell a total of about 30 to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil that had been stranded by a partial blockade imposed by the administration.Trump paid tribute to a helicopter pilot who was wounded in the operation but still managed to carry out the mission and paused to award him the Congressional Medal of Honor.He also introduced a former political prisoner, Enrique Márquez, who was freed by the Venezuelan government last month following the U.S. operation. He was a presidential candidate in the 2024 election and a former member of the National Electoral Council.”This was an absolutely colossal victory for the security of the United States,” Trump boasted.Trump’s action against Maduro, coupled with an increasingly aggressive posture in the Western Hemisphere aimed at eliminating drug trafficking and illegal migration, are a concern for many in the region — although they also have won support from some smaller countries.Trump has likened the strategy to the Monroe Doctrine, with its rejection of outside influences and assertion of U.S. primacy throughout what the administration considers to be “America’s backyard.”U.S. forces, under Trump’s orders, have carried out dozens of military strikes on alleged drug-running vessels in the Caribbean, seized sanctioned oil tankers and tightened the embargo of Cuba as part of what the president is referring to as the “Donroe Doctrine.””We’re also restoring American security and dominance in the Western Hemisphere, acting to secure our national interests and defend our country from violence, drugs, terrorism and foreign interference,” Trump said.Tariff strategy following Supreme Court rulingThe president ahead of the address ridiculed the six justices, including two conservatives he appointed in his first term, who last week struck down his use of a 1977 legal authority he had cited for most of the tariff hikes he imposed over the past year on friends and foes alike.In his speech, he took a more measured tone, calling the decision “an unfortunate ruling from the United States Supreme Court.”Trump on Monday threatened countries around the world to abide by any tariff deals they have already agreed to.Any country that wants to “play games” with the Supreme Court decision, Trump posted on social media, will be met with “a much higher Tariff, and worse, than that which they just recently agreed to.””The good news is almost all countries and corporations want to keep the deal that they already made,” Trump said Tuesday. He added, “The legal power that I, as president, have to make a new deal could be far worse for them and therefore they will continue to work along the same successful path we had negotiated before the Supreme Court’s unfortunate involvement.”___Associated Press writers Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, and Colin Binkley, Jonathan J. Cooper and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed reporting

    WASHINGTON —

    President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address tilted heavily on domestic issues, but he also made the case for his foreign policy efforts to Americans who are increasingly uneasy about his priorities.

    The president cheered brokering a fragile ceasefire deal in Gaza and his team’s bringing home hostages taken by Hamas militants, capturing autocratic leader Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and pressing fellow NATO members to increase defense spending among his biggest wins. He also warned Iran anew as he builds up U.S. forces in the region and weighs whether to carry out new military action against Tehran.

    At a moment when polls show the American public increasingly concerned about the economy, Trump’s assignment Tuesday evening also was to cut through thickening skepticism that he’s staying true to his “America First” philosophy after a year in which his focus was often far from home. It’s a wariness shared by some who once counted themselves among Trump’s closest allies.

    But Trump attempted to make the case that he’s taking the right approach balancing domestic policy concerns while using America’s military might when needed.

    “As president, I will make peace wherever I can, but I will never hesitate to confront threats to America wherever we must,” Trump said.

    Sixty-one percent of U.S. adults said they disapprove of how Trump is handling foreign policy, while 56% say Trump has “gone too far” in using the U.S. military to intervene in other countries, according to surveys from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research conducted earlier this month and in January.

    Here are a few moments where Trump sought to explain his foreign policy approach 13 months into his second term:

    Why he is talking about attacking Iran again

    Trump explained to Americans why he’s pondering military action, just eight months after he claimed that U.S. strikes had “obliterated” three critical Iranian nuclear facilities and left “the bully of the Middle East” with no choice but to make peace.

    “We wiped it out and they want to start all over again. And they’re at this moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions,” Trump said. “We are in negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words: We will never have a nuclear weapon.”

    Earlier Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X: “Our fundamental convictions are crystal clear: Iran will under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon.”

    Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are scheduled to meet again Thursday in Geneva with Iranian officials.

    But the pathway to a deal seems murky as the authoritarian clerics who rule Iran say they will only discuss the nuclear issue. The U.S. and Israel also want to address Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for regional armed proxies, including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis.

    Trump struggles to end the war in Ukraine

    Tuesday also marked the four-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    On the campaign trail, Trump boasted that he would be able to end the war in one day, but he has struggled to fulfill his pledge.

    He made scant mention of the war in his record-setting 108-minute speech.

    “The killing and slaughter between Russia and Ukraine, where 25,000 soldiers are dying each and every month,” Trump said, reiterating that he’s working to end the war.

    Russian and Ukrainian officials are negotiating in U.S.-mediated talks but are at loggerheads over key issues, including Russian demands that Kyiv concede Ukrainian territory still in its control and who will get the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe.

    Trump appears eager for a peace deal before the U.S. midterm elections despite the challenges. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the White House has set a June deadline for the war’s end and will likely pressure both sides to meet it.

    Video below: Catch up on the State of the Union address in 60 seconds

    Another victory lap on Maduro and focus on Western Hemisphere

    Trump again celebrated last month’s capture of the Venezuelan leader in an audacious military operation, saying the U.S. “just received from our new friend and partner, Venezuela, more than 80 million barrels of oil.” The Trump administration had previously said it was orchestrating the effort to sell a total of about 30 to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil that had been stranded by a partial blockade imposed by the administration.

    Trump paid tribute to a helicopter pilot who was wounded in the operation but still managed to carry out the mission and paused to award him the Congressional Medal of Honor.

    He also introduced a former political prisoner, Enrique Márquez, who was freed by the Venezuelan government last month following the U.S. operation. He was a presidential candidate in the 2024 election and a former member of the National Electoral Council.

    “This was an absolutely colossal victory for the security of the United States,” Trump boasted.

    Trump’s action against Maduro, coupled with an increasingly aggressive posture in the Western Hemisphere aimed at eliminating drug trafficking and illegal migration, are a concern for many in the region — although they also have won support from some smaller countries.

    Trump has likened the strategy to the Monroe Doctrine, with its rejection of outside influences and assertion of U.S. primacy throughout what the administration considers to be “America’s backyard.”

    U.S. forces, under Trump’s orders, have carried out dozens of military strikes on alleged drug-running vessels in the Caribbean, seized sanctioned oil tankers and tightened the embargo of Cuba as part of what the president is referring to as the “Donroe Doctrine.”

    “We’re also restoring American security and dominance in the Western Hemisphere, acting to secure our national interests and defend our country from violence, drugs, terrorism and foreign interference,” Trump said.

    Tariff strategy following Supreme Court ruling

    The president ahead of the address ridiculed the six justices, including two conservatives he appointed in his first term, who last week struck down his use of a 1977 legal authority he had cited for most of the tariff hikes he imposed over the past year on friends and foes alike.

    In his speech, he took a more measured tone, calling the decision “an unfortunate ruling from the United States Supreme Court.”

    Trump on Monday threatened countries around the world to abide by any tariff deals they have already agreed to.

    Any country that wants to “play games” with the Supreme Court decision, Trump posted on social media, will be met with “a much higher Tariff, and worse, than that which they just recently agreed to.”

    “The good news is almost all countries and corporations want to keep the deal that they already made,” Trump said Tuesday. He added, “The legal power that I, as president, have to make a new deal could be far worse for them and therefore they will continue to work along the same successful path we had negotiated before the Supreme Court’s unfortunate involvement.”

    ___

    Associated Press writers Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, and Colin Binkley, Jonathan J. Cooper and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed reporting

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  • Israeli strikes kill 29 Palestinians, including children, one of highest tolls since ceasefire

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    Hospitals in Gaza said Israeli strikes killed at least 29 Palestinians Saturday, one of the highest tolls since the October ceasefire aimed at stopping the war.Israeli strikes hit locations throughout Gaza, including lethal ones on an apartment building in Gaza City and a tent camp in Khan Younis, officials at hospitals that received the bodies said. The casualties included two women and six children from two different families. An airstrike also hit a police station in Gaza City, killing at least 14 and wounding others, Shifa Hospital director Mohamed Abu Selmiya said.Related video above: The last family in a West Bank Bedouin community is forced out after years of Israeli settler intimidationThe series of strikes came a day before the Rafah crossing along the border with Egypt is set to open in Gaza’s southernmost city. All of the territory’s border crossings have been closed throughout almost the entire war. Palestinians see Rafah as a lifeline for the tens of thousands who need treatment outside the territory, where the majority of medical infrastructure has been destroyed.The crossing’s opening, limited at first, marks the first major step in the second phase of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire. Reopening borders is among the challenging issues on the agenda for the phase now underway, which also include demilitarizing the strip after nearly two decades of Hamas rule and installing a new government to oversee reconstruction. Still, Saturday’s strikes are a reminder that the death toll in Gaza is still rising even as the ceasefire agreement inches forward. Nasser Hospital said the strike on the tent camp caused a fire to break out, killing seven, including a father, his three children and three grandchildren. Meanwhile, Shifa Hospital said the Gaza City apartment building strike killed three children, their aunt and grandmother on Saturday morning, while the strike on the police station killed at least 14 — officers, including four policewomen, and inmates held at the station. The Gazan Interior Ministry said Palestinian civilians were also killed in the strike.Hamas called Saturday’s strikes “a renewed flagrant violation” and urged the United States and other mediating countries to push Israel to stop strikes.Israel’s military, which has struck targets on both sides of the ceasefire’s dividing line, said its attacks since October have been responses to violations of the agreement. It said in a statement that Saturday’s strikes followed what it described as ceasefire violations a day earlier, when the army killed at least four militants emerging from a tunnel in an Israeli-controlled area of Rafah.Gaza’s Health Ministry has recorded 509 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since the start of the ceasefire on Oct. 10. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.___Magdy reported from Cairo and Metz from Jerusalem.

    DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip —

    Hospitals in Gaza said Israeli strikes killed at least 29 Palestinians Saturday, one of the highest tolls since the October ceasefire aimed at stopping the war.

    Israeli strikes hit locations throughout Gaza, including lethal ones on an apartment building in Gaza City and a tent camp in Khan Younis, officials at hospitals that received the bodies said. The casualties included two women and six children from two different families. An airstrike also hit a police station in Gaza City, killing at least 14 and wounding others, Shifa Hospital director Mohamed Abu Selmiya said.

    Related video above: The last family in a West Bank Bedouin community is forced out after years of Israeli settler intimidation

    The series of strikes came a day before the Rafah crossing along the border with Egypt is set to open in Gaza’s southernmost city. All of the territory’s border crossings have been closed throughout almost the entire war. Palestinians see Rafah as a lifeline for the tens of thousands who need treatment outside the territory, where the majority of medical infrastructure has been destroyed.

    Anadolu

    Smoke rises after an airstrike hit a building in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Yunis, Gaza, despite the ceasefire on January 31, 2026. The Israeli army has carried out intense attacks on various areas of the Gaza Strip since the morning.

    The crossing’s opening, limited at first, marks the first major step in the second phase of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire. Reopening borders is among the challenging issues on the agenda for the phase now underway, which also include demilitarizing the strip after nearly two decades of Hamas rule and installing a new government to oversee reconstruction.

    Still, Saturday’s strikes are a reminder that the death toll in Gaza is still rising even as the ceasefire agreement inches forward.

    Nasser Hospital said the strike on the tent camp caused a fire to break out, killing seven, including a father, his three children and three grandchildren. Meanwhile, Shifa Hospital said the Gaza City apartment building strike killed three children, their aunt and grandmother on Saturday morning, while the strike on the police station killed at least 14 — officers, including four policewomen, and inmates held at the station. The Gazan Interior Ministry said Palestinian civilians were also killed in the strike.

    Hamas called Saturday’s strikes “a renewed flagrant violation” and urged the United States and other mediating countries to push Israel to stop strikes.

    Israel’s military, which has struck targets on both sides of the ceasefire’s dividing line, said its attacks since October have been responses to violations of the agreement. It said in a statement that Saturday’s strikes followed what it described as ceasefire violations a day earlier, when the army killed at least four militants emerging from a tunnel in an Israeli-controlled area of Rafah.

    Gaza’s Health Ministry has recorded 509 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since the start of the ceasefire on Oct. 10. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.

    ___

    Magdy reported from Cairo and Metz from Jerusalem.

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  • Opinion | Trump Changed the Stakes in the Middle East

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    In the 77 years since the formation of the Jewish state, and for the 2,000 years since the destruction of the Second Temple, the West has understood peace in the Middle East—peace between Arabs and Jews—as impossible.

    Semantically, the “Peace Process” was the continuing enjoyment of a process which could be ended only by peace. What, then, have the West, the world and the United Nations been doing in regard to the Mideast since 1948?

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

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    David Mamet

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  • Hamas hands over three coffins it says contain bodies of Gaza hostages

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    Hamas has handed over three coffins it says contain the bodies of deceased Gaza hostages, according to the Israeli military.

    Israel has received the coffins, via the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip, and transported them to Israel for formal identification.

    If confirmed as deceased hostages, it would mean eight Israeli and foreign deceased hostages remain in Gaza.

    Under the first phase of the US-brokered ceasefire deal with Israel that started last month, Hamas agreed to return the 20 living and 28 dead hostages it was holding.

    Israel has accused Hamas of being too slow to return the deceased hostages, while Hamas has said it is working to recover bodies trapped under rubble in the territory.

    Hamas’s armed wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, said the remains had been found earlier on Sunday “along the route of one of the tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip”.

    Later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official X account said: “All of the hostages’ families have been updated accordingly, and our hearts are with them in this difficult hour. The effort to return our hostages is ongoing and will not cease until the last hostage is returned.”

    The Hostages and Missing Families Forum is pressing Netanyahu to act urgently to recover all remaining deceased hostages from Gaza.

    “The Hostage Families demand that the prime minister act with determination and firmness in order… to return all of the deceased hostages to Israel’s hands,” the campaign group said in a statement.

    Hamas and Israel have accused each other of violating the ceasefire.

    On Sunday, an Israeli air strike killed a man in northern Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

    The Israeli military said it had struck a militant that was posing a threat to its soldiers.

    Under the first phase of the ceasefire, all the living Israeli hostages were released on 13 October in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 detainees from Gaza.

    Israel has handed over the bodies of 225 Palestinians in exchange for the bodies of the 15 Israeli hostages so far returned by Hamas, along with those of two foreign hostages – one of them Thai and the other Nepalese.

    Prior to Sunday, nine of the 11 dead hostages still in Gaza were Israelis, one was Tanzanian, and one was Thai.

    All but one of the dead hostages still in Gaza were among the 251 people abducted during the Hamas-led 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 68,500 people have been killed, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

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  • Hamas knows where hostages Hadar Goldin, Asaf Hamami buried, stalling return, source tells ‘Post’

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    A source told The Jerusalem Post that Hamas is dragging its feet on returning the bodies of slain hostages Hadar Goldin and Col. Assaf Hamami.

    Hamas knows where slain hostages IDF Lt. Hadar Goldin and Col. Asaf Hamami are buried, but is stalling the return of their remains, a source told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.

    Goldin was taken captive on August 1, 2014, during Operation Protective Edge. He was working to dismantle a terror tunnel in Rafah when two Hamas terrorists emerged from the tunnel and took him captive.

    He was initially believed to have been taken alive, but the IDF announced days later that he had been killed before his body was taken.

    The Military Rabbinate decided that the matter was clear enough to hold a funeral, and despite his body being held in Gaza, partial remains were buried in a funeral attended by thousands of Israelis.

    IDF Col. Asaf Hamami was the commander of the southern brigade in the Gaza division. On October 7, he rushed to Kibbutz Nirim to defend the border.

    A house at Kibbutz Nirim burned on October 7 in the Hamas attack. (credit: SETH J. FRANTZMAN)

    According to KAN 7.10.360, a digital memorial project of October 7, when Hamami reached Kibbutz Nirim with fellow soldiers Tomer Ahimas and Kiril Brodsky, he immediately recognized the extent of the situation, quickly calling on his radio, “Guys, we’re at war. We’re at war.”

    He was subsequently fatally wounded, and his body was taken hostage to Gaza.

    Hamas says it will hand over unidentified hostage remains on Monday

    This comes as Hamas confirmed that it would hand over the remains of an unidentified hostage on Monday evening.

    A member of Hamas’s Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades told Al Jazeera that the remains were discovered during excavation efforts in the Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City.

    Hamas also told Arab mediators on Monday that it is working to excavate between seven and nine bodies of slain hostages from the Gaza Strip, Saudi network Asharq News reported on Monday.

    The source added that as soon as the remains are excavated, Hamas will hand them over to the Red Cross. However, the source did not say whether all the remains will be released in a single handover.

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  • Opinion | A Mamdani Mayoralty Threatens New York’s Jews

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    By propagating lies about ‘occupation,’ ‘apartheid’ and ‘genocide,’ he helps promote antisemitism.

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    Elisha Wiesel

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  • Hamas says return of Israeli hostages’ bodies may take time

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    Hamas claims the return of Israeli hostages’ bodies will take time, saying some are buried in destroyed tunnels and others under bombed buildings.

    Hamas claimed on Thursday that the return of Israeli hostages’ bodies may take time, as some were buried in tunnels destroyed by Israel, and others remain under the rubble of buildings that Israel bombed and destroyed, adding that the group remained committed to the Gaza agreement and keen to hand over all the remaining bodies of the hostages held in Gaza.

    The retrieval of the remaining bodies required equipment to remove rubble, which was currently unavailable due to Israel’s ban on entry of such tools, Hamas added.

    Israel will continue refusing to allow a Turkish delegation of 81 rescue personnel and heavy equipment to enter the Gaza Strip until Hamas returns all the remains of deceased hostages that it can, an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

    Hamas terrorists and Gazan civilians congregate in Jabalya, northern Gaza Strip. January 30, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/MOHAMMED SALEM)

    ‘Group of hostages’ bodies that Hamas can return right now’

    “There is a group of hostages’ bodies that Hamas can return right now [and] another group they know the location of, but they need equipment and assistance to retrieve them,” another source said. “And there are some bodies they genuinely do not know where they are.”

    Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Thursday: “We know for certain that Hamas can easily release a significant number of hostages in accordance with the agreement. What they are doing now is a fundamental violation of that agreement.”

    Amichai Stein contributed to this article.

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  • Gaza’s Broken Politics

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    Whatever fragile political system existed in Gaza has collapsed, along with the institutions that once gave public life its structure. Hamas, weakened militarily and decapitated by the assassinations of its leaders, faces isolation abroad and a diminished mandate at home. The Palestinian Authority, long discredited in the West Bank, has been absent in Gaza. Leftist factions survive as symbols rather than as real organizations. Independent political figures are scattered or silenced. After two years of war, Gaza has no functioning political body with the authority or legitimacy to shape what comes next.

    President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan is being sold as the answer. Announced by Trump at the White House in late September, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his side, the twenty-point framework promises to end the war, restart aid, and stand up a transitional authority to run Gaza. It creates a “temporary International Stabilization Force,” an apolitical technocratic Palestinian committee under a new international “Board of Peace,” chaired by Trump himself. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair would help oversee the transition. The body will aim to manage Gaza’s redevelopment through modern, “efficient” governance, to attract foreign investment. The plan’s clauses include an exchange of hostages for prisoners and detainees, amnesty for Hamas members who disarm, safe passage for the members who choose to leave, a surge of humanitarian deliveries, and a multi-stage withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces tied to “security benchmarks”—including Hamas’s demilitarization and border-control arrangements, all verified by independent observers. The document also notes that civilians will be allowed to leave but “no one will be forced out” of Gaza, a shift from Netanyahu’s earlier talk of “voluntary” emigration and Trump’s “Riviera” proposal “to rebuild and energize Gaza.”

    Strip away the framing, and the design is clear. Gaza is to be managed from the outside, without a locally elected government. The P.A. is told to make reforms—anti-corruption and fiscal-transparency measures, increased judicial independence, a path to elections—before it can even be considered for a role in Gaza’s governance. Hamas is removed from political life by decree. Core questions—borders, sovereignty, refugees—are deferred. In this architecture, Gaza becomes a security-first regime, where aid, reconstruction, and “transition” are subordinated to Israeli security metrics under the oversight of the U.S. and its partners. Palestinians are offered administration without authority. The occupation is dressed in managerial language. The danger is that this “temporary” system becomes permanent, sustained by donors, monitors, and memoranda.

    As of this writing, the first phase of the deal has moved ahead. Hamas has released the remaining living hostages, and Israel freed some two thousand Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Aid convoys are scaling up, and Israel said that it has partially withdrawn troops from parts of Gaza. What remains unclear are the enforcement mechanisms and the timelines. Who commands the proposed “stabilization force,” and under what rules of engagement will it operate? Where will I.D.F. units be positioned during the transition? What binding guarantees—if any—protect Palestinians against an open-ended military return? Negotiators say that these questions are still being debated, paragraph by paragraph. A parallel diplomatic track is also opening. On Monday, Trump co-chaired the Sharm El-Sheikh summit, a meeting in Egypt focussed on postwar governance, with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the P.A., was in attendance. Benjamin Netanyahu was not. The meeting was aimed at rallying broader backing for the plan and locking down its operational details.

    Hamas had little room to maneuver in the latest round of talks. Many Arab governments endorsed Trump’s Gaza plan before the organization had even received a formal copy of it, boxing the group into a defensive posture. Netanyahu, meanwhile, used the moment to reaffirm his rejection of a Palestinian state.

    Still, ending the war always required that Hamas agree to a deal—perhaps an ugly one, certainly an imperfect one, but one that would bring a stop to the killing. There were earlier windows during the war when a deal might have opened space for hard bargaining that could have won real gains for Gazans. Instead, Gazan leadership fell into refusals and delays without any coherent strategy. Each rejection narrowed the horizon until what Gazans face now is a comprehensive package imposed from the outside. This is the price of political failure. Leaders treated negotiations as a stage for factional gain rather than as a matter of national survival. Now the choices are brutally tight: partial occupation under terms the people can still contest, or a broader occupation that comes with more widespread displacement. Palestinian negotiators owed the people some kind of plan. It was necessary to get aid flowing and to spare lives. Anyone who gambled with that blood for the sake of symbolic triumph would have been accountable for the cost.

    The plan now opens a narrow opportunity—if Palestinians can turn its vague text into leverage. On paper, it pledges an I.D.F. withdrawal and sketches a “credible pathway” to self-determination and, eventually, statehood. Much of the machinery is still unspecified, but that uncertainty can be converted into demands: a public U.S. commitment on statehood, a dated and enforceable timetable for full withdrawal, a U.N. Security Council resolution that hardens the guarantees with penalties for violations, and third-party monitoring. Whatever form the final deal takes, it will serve as a hinge into a new political order in Gaza. Now that the bombardment has stopped, it has left a political vacuum in the territory. The question is, what will rush to fill it?

    There has never been a genuine internal reckoning with Palestinian political failures. The Oslo Accords—brokered by the U.S. and signed in the mid-nineties, after secret negotiations—were framed as the last great compromise. In practice, they created the Palestinian Authority as an interim administrator of Palestine, and postponed the conflict’s major questions to a later date that has yet to arrive. Palestinians were shifted from leading a liberation project to managing enclaves, while Israel retained control over their land, movement, and the map itself. Before Oslo, the first intifada had generated momentum for international recognition of Palestinian statehood. Oslo dismantled that momentum. It was meant to be a bridge to peace, but it became the final blow. It provided no way to implement U.N. Resolution 194 on the right of return for exiled or displaced Palestinians, and produced no method of insuring equality for some two million Palestinians inside Israel, whose struggle was written off as an internal matter. Every inch of Palestinian land remains under Israeli military control in one form or another. The labels changed, but the structure did not.

    Hamas won elections in Gaza in 2006. What followed were boycotts and sanctions from the international community; a power struggle with Fatah, the party that controls the P.A., that exploded into a street war in 2007; and, ultimately, a geographic divorce. Hamas was left governing Gaza, and the P.A. was confined to the West Bank. Israel then tightened a land-sea-air blockade of the territory, which made normal governance impossible and turned every budget line into a permit request. Hamas never allowed further elections. Over successive wars and siege years, Hamas’s authority hardened until it ran a kind of bunker state: an exiled political bureau abroad, a Gazan command increasingly dominated by the organization’s military wing, and a public living under limited movement, rationed goods, and permanent emergency.

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    Mohammed R. Mhawish

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  • Two years of chains, torture, and isolation: What is known about the hostages’ time in captivity?

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    Some hostages spent the entire two years isolated, and kept in the dark on the welfare of their families after October 7.

    After two years in Hamas captivity, the newly released hostages shared a little information about the hardships imposed on them during their time in Gaza, Israeli media reported on Monday night.

    The Cunio brothers

    Ariel Cunio was reportedly held alone for his captivity, according to Channel 12, while his brother David was held with Nimrod Cohen and Eitan Horn in multiple tunnels across the Gaza Strip.

    While in the tunnels, David Cunio was denied access to any media. It was only during a brief encounter with Yarden Bibas, after the Hamas video was filmed of them, that David learned his twin brother, Eitan Cunio, survived October 7.

    Gali and Ziv Berman

    Gali and Ziv Berman were held separately and cut off from all media access, Channel 12 reported. The pair were said to have been held in the same city and were not told that they would finally be reunited today.

    Terrorists reportedly spoke Hebrew to both men during their captivity.

    Gali, Ziv Berman wearing Maccabi Tel Aviv shirts gifted to them, October 13, 2025. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON UNIT)

    Elkana Bohbot

    Elkana Bohbot spent most of his time in captivity, chained in tunnels, where he lost all sense of time and space.

    Bohbot told his family on his wedding anniversary that he had asked a guard to allow him to shower. The Hamas guard initially denied his request and demanded he sit back down, but eventually relented and allowed him to clean himself.

    Matan Angrest

    Matan Angrest was treated for injuries to his fingers and hands without anaesthesia, causing further medical problems, N12 reported.

    Unlike other hostages, Matan was allowed to occasionally watch media clips of Hostages’ Square, where he heard his loved ones speak.

    “Every now and then he tells a few sentences. He went through very severe torture in the first months when he was defined as a soldier… I don’t know where he got these strengths from,” his mother told N12. “…He didn’t remember how he was actually kidnapped, but he did remember the battle, and he guessed that his friends were killed that morning. He has flashbacks where he loses consciousness and occasionally opens his eyes, the kidnapping, the beating of him, the covering of him with black bags, the abuse of him… He’s been through a lot. But he’s here and we’ll focus on the good.

    “He was in the tunnels for a long time, talking about severe IDF shelling, planes passing over the tunnel, walls falling near them, finding themselves passing by rubble, very complex situations.”

    Avinatan Or

    Avinatan Or, who was reunited with his loved ones on Monday, was held in a camp in central Gaza. It was here the terrorists starved him and where, according to an initial medical report, he lost between 30-40% of his bodyweight, N12 reported.

    Avinatan was completely isolated from other hostages and was told very little about what happened in Israel following Hamas’s invasion.

    Evyatar David

    Evyatar David‘s father told Israeli media that his son had experienced both psychological and physical abuse during captivity. He was separated from fellow hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal two months ago.

    Alon Ohel

    Alon Ohel was chained in the same tunnel for almost the entire two years he was in captivity, and moved only once to a new tunnel 40 days ago, Channel 12 reported.

    Alon was moved unexpectedly to the new tunnel located in the center of the Gaza Strip after hours of journeying. The IDF reported that the move was to use him as a human shield to prevent the military from taking over the city.

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  • Fact-checking Trump’s speech to Israel’s Knesset

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    President Donald Trump, speaking in Israel on the day that Hamas released all living Israeli hostages and Israel released Palestinian prisoners and detainees, framed the agreement he helped broker as a “historic dawn of a new Middle East.” 

    He told the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, “This is not only the end of a war, this is the end of an age of terror and death and the beginning of the age of faith and hope and of God.”

    Trump’s Oct. 13 address focused on his administration’s efforts to produce an agreement between Israel and Hamas, which included a Gaza ceasefire and the release of 20 Israeli hostages, 250 Palestinian prisoners and about 1,700 Palestinian detainees held without charges.

    The future phases of the 20-point plan that could lead to a lasting peace are complicated and uncertain. After his speech, Trump flew to Egypt to sign the deal with world leaders at a summit that launched the first phase of the agreement.

    Under the plan, Arab and international partners will develop a stabilization force to deploy in Gaza, while day-to-day governance would shift from Hamas to a Palestinian committee. The committee will include Palestinians and international experts, with oversight by the “Board of Peace,” chaired by Trump and including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. 

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    Trump, the fourth U.S. president to address the Knesset, praised his handpicked negotiator, Steve Witkoff, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio while taking swipes at his Democratic predecessors, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. He also called for Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has faced a years-long corruption case.

    Here are fact-checks of some of Trump’s comments:

    Says he “settled eight wars in eight months.”

    The agreement signed today is widely considered a landmark moment in a decades-long conflict, and Trump was a key player. But his repeated talking point about solving eight wars is exaggerated.

    Trump had a hand in ceasefires that have recently eased conflicts between Israel and Iran, India and Pakistan, and Armenia and Azerbaijan. But these were mostly incremental accords, and some leaders dispute the extent of Trump’s role. 

    Peace has not held in other conflicts. The U.S. was involved in a temporary peace deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, but violence in the region has continued, with hundreds of civilians killed since the deal’s June signing. After Trump helped broker a deal between Cambodia and Thailand, the countries have accused each other of ceasefire violations that have led to violent skirmishes.

    A long-running standoff between Egypt and Ethiopia over an Ethiopian dam on the Nile remains unresolved, and it is closer to a diplomatic dispute than a military clash. In the case of Kosovo and Serbia, there is little evidence a potential war was brewing.

    Trump has made notable progress by securing the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage agreement, but the deal involves multiple stages, so it will take time to see if peace holds.

    People gather to greet freed Palestinian prisoners in the Gaza Strip after their release from Israeli jails under a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel, outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 13, 2025. (AP)

    “So we dropped 14 bombs on Iran’s key nuclear facilities, totally, as I said originally, obliterating them. That’s been confirmed.”

    It is impossible to know whether Operation Midnight Hammer — in which the U.S. bombed three Iranian nuclear facilities in June to undercut Iran’s nuclear weapons capabilities — succeeded in “obliterating” those sites, because U.S. and allied intelligence is not necessarily available to the public.

    More than three months after the U.S. attack on Fordo, a major underground Iranian nuclear site, it’s not clear how much damage U.S. bombs created. Officials haven’t publicly released a definitive damage assessment. 

    An Aug. 20 analysis by The New York Times said subsequent assessments have found an increasing likelihood that significant damage resulted from the strike. However, the Times concluded that “with so many variables — and so many unknowns — it may be difficult to ever really be certain.”

    “The Iran nuclear deal turned out to be a disaster.” 

    Trump omits that Iran had largely complied with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in which the country agreed not to pursue nuclear weapons and allow continuous monitoring of its compliance in exchange for relief from economic sanctions. The agreement was set to expire over 10 to 25 years.

    Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018 and did not renegotiate the agreement as he promised.

    Many experts praised the pact for keeping nuclear weapons out of Tehran’s hands. The International Atomic Energy Agency said it found Iran committed no violations, aside from minor infractions that were addressed. 

    After dropping out of the compact, the U.S. imposed economic sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, and Iran reduced its compliance with the deal.

    People gather to watch a broadcast of Israeli hostages released from Gaza at a plaza known as hostages square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Oct. 13, 2025. (AP)

    Under the Obama and Biden administrations, “there was a hatred toward Israel, it was an absolute hatred.”

    The two Democratic presidents had somewhat strained relationships with Netanyahu, who has often courted U.S. Republican leaders, but during their tenures, the U.S. continued to support Israeli foreign policy and its military.

    Osamah Khalil, Syracuse University history professor and expert on the modern Middle East, said it’s untrue that Obama or Biden “held a personal animus toward Israel, especially Biden.” 

    “Indeed, both administrations oversaw expansions in U.S. military assistance and coordination with Israel,” Khalil said. “In 2016, Obama signed the largest U.S. military aid package in history.”

    In 2016, the U.S. and Israel signed a 10-year, $38 billion memorandum of understanding. It cited several priorities, including updating the Israeli air fleet and maintaining the country’s missile defense system. 

    Military funding for Israel continued under Biden. In the two years since Oct. 7, 2023, the U.S. government spent $21.7 billion on military aid to Israel.

    Biden ordered U.S. troops to be deployed in and around Israel and Gaza and shielded Israel at the U.N. by blocking many cease-fire resolutions, Khalil said.

    Obama and Biden “did nothing with this incredible document, the Abraham Accords.”

    Obama’s presidency ended years before the Abraham Accords were signed. 

    The 2020 agreement during Trump’s first term brought together the leaders of Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. The countries agreed to peace and cooperation with Israel, establishing embassies, preventing hostilities and fostering tourism and trade. 

    The Biden administration tried to bring Saudi Arabia into the accord, but this effort languished after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks.

    After the 2023 Hamas attacks, “The idea of official Israeli-Saudi relations became much harder,” said Jeremy Pressman, a University of Connecticut political science professor and expert on the Arab-Israeli conflict.

    Trump and fellow dignitaries pose at the Gaza International Peace Summit, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Oct. 13, 2025. (AP)

    “You walk over from Iran to Qatar, you can walk it in one second. You go boom, boom, and now you’re in Qatar.” (To reporters on Air Force One, Oct. 12.)

    Qatar sits across the Persian Gulf from Iran, more than 100 miles over water at its closest point.

    Driving from Qatar to Iran would take at least 24 hours, according to Google Maps, and would require passing through Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq. (Border crossings in this part of the world would likely add to the drive’s duration.)

    Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi “liked me so much, he never even got to see Hillary” Clinton in 2016. “He saw her for about two seconds.” (Trump remarks in Egypt, Oct. 13.)

    This is inaccurate. Trump and Hillary Clinton, as their party’s 2016 presidential nominees, both met with Sisi when he was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly in September 2016. 

    Politico reported that Sisi’s session with Clinton “lasted more than an hour.” The Clinton presidential campaign said they discussed counterterrorism, human rights, the Middle East and economic development in Egypt.

    Trump met with Sisi that night.

    RELATED: Fact-checking Trump Cabinet meeting during shutdown, National Guard deployments

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  • Key moments from a momentous day for Israelis and Palestinians

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    (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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  • The End of Israel’s Hostage Ordeal

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    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.”

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  • Who are the hostages being released?

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    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.”

    Omri Miran

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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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  • First Seven Israeli Hostages Handed to Red Cross 

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    The first seven Israeli hostages captured by Hamas on October 7, 2023, have been handed over by Hamas to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as part of a deal aimed at ending the Gaza war, the Associated Press (AP) reported, citing the Israeli government.

    The release of the last 20 living Israeli hostages, followed by the handover of bodies of the remaining 28 dead hostages, is the first step of a peace plan brokered by President Donald Trump aimed at finally ending the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas after two years of fighting.

    There was no immediate word on the condition of the seven.

    Twenty living hostages are being handed back back by Hamas to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and then on to Israeli authorities, at three points on the border with Gaza, Israeli media reported. They will immediately be taken for medical checks.

    Several thousand people gathered in central Tel Aviv, at a place known as Hostages Square, cheered the news of the handover.

    Hamas took about 250 hostages and killed some 1,200 people in October 2023. Over the past two years, Hamas released 148 hostages, eight of whom were dead, according to the AP.

    Since October 2023, Israel’s ground and air offensives in Gaza have displaced more than 2 million people and killed more than 67,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

    The deal brokered by Trump will see the remaining hostages – dead or alive – released back into Israel as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) partially withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

    The plan marks the most substantial effort yet toward a lasting agreement, after earlier deals yielded only temporary cease-fires. Trump has been applauded by Israelis and Palestinians, as well as world leaders, for his efforts.

    Trump will arrive in Israel on Monday and he is due to meet families of hostages and address the Knesset, or parliament. 

    He then travels to Egypt, where he and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi will oversee a meeting in the resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh with leaders from more than 20 countries on peace in Gaza and the broader Middle East.

    Representatives of the two protagonists – Israel and Hamas – are not expected to be at the gathering in Egypt.

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  • Israel prepares to welcome the last living hostages from Gaza

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    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.

    Emilio Morenatti

    People gather prior to the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, at a plaza known as the hostages square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025.

    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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  • Israel prepares to welcome the last living hostages from Gaza

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    Hamas on Monday published a list of over 1,900 Palestinian prisoners it said will be released in the Israel-Hamas war ceasefire. The release comes after the militant group offered a list of the 20 living hostages it would release as part of the deal.The International Committee of the Red Cross is expected to oversee the releases.Video above: Israel prepares to welcome the last living hostages from Gaza as a ceasefire holdsThe 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 on Monday published a list of over 1,900 Palestinian prisoners it said will be released in the Israel-Hamas war ceasefire. The release comes after the militant group offered a list of the 20 living hostages it would release as part of the deal.

    The International Committee of the Red Cross is expected to oversee the releases.

    Video above: Israel prepares to welcome the last living hostages from Gaza as a ceasefire holds

    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.

    Emilio Morenatti

    People gather prior to the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, at a plaza known as the hostages square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025.

    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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  • Israel readies DNA and CT scans to identify hostages’ remains

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    Teams are preparing to identify the fallen hostages, determine the causes of death, and support families, using scientific methods and human compassion

    A nationwide operation to identify the fallen is underway: the Health Ministry and the National Center of Forensic Medicine in Abu Kabir said they have completed preparations to receive the remains of the hostages expected to return to Israel on Monday.

    According to the official statement, this is among the most sensitive and complex processes in Israel’s health system, combining rigorous scientific work with a profound commitment to the families and the state.

    The center, headed by Dr. Chen Kugel, is responsible for identification, investigating the circumstances of death, and providing certainty to families. The work will be carried out in close cooperation with the IDF, the Military Rabbinate, the Israel Police, and the Religious Services Ministry.

    Dozens of specialists are involved at the institute, including forensic pathologists, anthropologists, radiologists, imaging and laboratory technicians, DNA experts, and forensic dentists, each responsible for a different stage of the identification process.

    The Health Ministry emphasized that since the start of the war, the institute has operated continuously. Over the past two years, it has identified more than 50 hostages who were killed while in captivity. The accumulated experience enables the teams to act swiftly and professionally now as well, while safeguarding human dignity and providing emotional support to families.

    People pay their respects while the convoy with the slain hostages arrive at the L. Greenberg Institute of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir. February 20, 2025. (credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

    The process of identification

    Identification will proceed in precise stages, in line with accepted international protocols. Upon arrival, the remains will undergo an advanced full-body CT scan to locate unique markers, such as medical implants or old fractures, that can be matched with medical records provided by families.

    A full forensic medical examination by specialist physicians will follow, including documentation of external identifying features, tattoos, scars, and injuries sustained before or after death.

    Dental examinations will be performed by dentists from the Israel Police volunteer unit, comparing dental X-rays and previous records. The forensic radiology department, headed by Dr. Alon Krispin, will carry out additional comparisons using X-ray and CT imaging to identify distinctive anatomical features.

    Samples will then be taken for advanced DNA testing at the center’s biological laboratory, led by Dr. Nurit Bublil. There, precise genetic analyses will be conducted and compared with reference samples collected from families.

    The goal is to reach the highest possible level of certainty, which often requires an integrated effort across several disciplines, including genetics, anatomy, anthropology, and radiology.

    Where findings are clear and the condition of the remains allows, identification can be completed in as little as an hour and a half. In complex cases, the process may take many hours or even several days until complete scientific certainty is achieved. Once identification is finalized, the findings will be submitted to the relevant authorities in the Health Ministry and the defense establishment, and families will be notified in person. Only then will the bodies be released for burial, in accordance with the families’ wishes and IDF procedures.

    The human element is never forgotten

    The institute stressed that even after the identification process is completed, its staff will remain available to families to explain the findings and answer questions. The aim is to ensure families fully understand the information and can reach personal closure.

    The Health Ministry also addressed the psychological dimension of this national trauma. It noted that uncertainty and tension surrounding the identification process affect the entire public and urged awareness of one’s own mental state and that of the community.

    Recommendations include mutual support among family and friends, avoiding disturbing videos or rumors, and engaging in activities that strengthen emotional resilience, such as spending time with loved ones and maintaining routine.

    In addition, the ministry warned against spreading information that does not come from official sources and called on the public to act responsibly and sensitively toward bereaved families and those returning from captivity. “We all carry the invisible wounds of grief and pain,” the statement said. “It is likely that many around us are coping with loss. Be sensitive, and help those in distress.”

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  • Who are the hostages Israel believes are still alive?

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    TEL AVIV, Israel — Their faces stare down from every street corner in Israel on posters now sun-faded and ripped. Their stories, told by anguished family members, are almost as well-known as celebrities. They are civilians and soldiers, fathers and sons. Some were at the Nova music festival, where almost 400 people were killed and dozens kidnapped.

    The latest ceasefire, which began Friday, marks a key step toward ending a ruinous two-year war that was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, when some 1,200 people were killed and 251 kidnapped.

    The fighting has killed 67,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the deaths were women and children, and displaced around 90% of the Gaza population of some 2 million. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the United Nations and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties in Gaza.

    There are currently 48 hostages being held in Gaza, including the body of one soldier from a previous war. Israel has determined that at least 25 of the hostages were killed on Oct. 7, 2023, or died while in captivity. It is unclear how many of the remaining around 20 hostages are still alive and will return to Israel. There is only one remaining female hostage, who Israel believes was killed in captivity.

    This combo of images provided by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, shows Israeli hostages.

    Hostages and Missing Families Forum via AP, File

    With the start of the ceasefire on Friday, the remaining hostages are expected to be released within 72 hours. Israel is set to release around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange.

    Here is a look at 22 hostages Israel believes are still alive.

    Matan Angrest, 22

    Matan Angrest, an Israeli soldier, was kidnapped from his military tank in southern Israel. He is the oldest of four children from Kiryat Bialik, outside of Haifa. His family has been among the most vocal protesters and very critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Tuesday’s two-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack, his mother, Anat Angrest, addressed her son at a rally. “I know you’re in pain, and I can’t hug you. I hear you whisper, ‘Come for me, Mom,’ and I can’t protect you,” she said.

    Gali Berman & Ziv Berman, 28

    The fraternal twins were taken from their homes in kibbutz Kfar Aza, on the border with Gaza, during the Oct. 7 attack. Seventeen others were also abducted from Kfar Aza, but the Berman twins are the only hostages from the kibbutz who remain in captivity. The family has heard from hostages who returned in a previous deal that, as of February, the brothers were alive but being held separately. Liran Berman, their older brother, said it’s the longest the two have ever spent apart. In Kfar Aza, the twins lived in apartments across from each other. Gali is more outgoing, while Ziv is more reserved and shy with a sharp sense of humor, their brother said.

    Elkana Bohbot, 36

    Elkana Bohbot was kidnapped from the Nova music festival. In the past year, Hamas has published multiple videos of Bohbot, filmed under duress, including one where he has a fake telephone conversation with his wife, Rivka; their son, Reem; his mother and his brother – pleading with them to help him get out of Gaza. His son made binoculars in kindergarten which he often uses to go out and “look for his father,” according to Bohbot’s mother, Ruhama.

    Rom Braslavski, 21

    Braslavski was working as a security guard at the Nova festival. He attempted to help festival goers evacuate and was wounded in both hands before being kidnapped, witnesses said. In August, the Islamic Jihad militant group released a video of a skeletal Braslavski sobbing and pleading for his life, adding that injuries to his foot prevent him from standing. The videos of Braslavski and Evyatar David digging his own grave horrified Israelis, sparking some of the largest attendance in months at weekly protests. His father, Ofir, said Rom is usually a strong, happy-go-lucky kid, and that video is the first time he’s seen his son cry.

    Nimrod Cohen, 21

    Nimrod Cohen was kidnapped from a tank where he was stationed as a soldier in southern Israel. Cohen is obsessed with Rubik’s cubes, his family said, and a burned Rubik’s cube was found in the tank he was abducted from. This year, his mother, Viki Cohen, illustrated a Passover haggadah, the text laying out the rituals and story recited during the Passover holiday, in honor of hostages, partly because her family has stopped celebrating holidays since the attack. “We don’t gather as a family, because it reminds us how much he is missing,” Cohen said. The only time the extended family gathers is at protests, she said.

    Ariel Cunio, 28

    The youngest of four Cunio brothers, Ariel was kidnapped from the Nir Oz kibbutz with his girlfriend, Arbel Yehoud, and her brother, Dolev, a married father of four who was later killed in captivity. According to news reports, Cunio and Yehoud had returned from an extended trip to South America weeks before the attack and had just adopted a puppy. Yehoud was released during the ceasefire in January.

    David Cunio, 35

    David Cunio, brother of Ariel Cunio, was kidnapped with his wife, Sharon, and their 3-year-old twins from the Nir Oz kibbutz. Sharon’s sister Danielle and her 5-year-old daughter, who were visiting, also were kidnapped. All were released in November, except for David Cunio. In July, Sharon shared a photo of the twins marking their fifth birthday, their second without their father, writing on Facebook that the girls have changed so much while he’s been in captivity that “they’re not the same little girls he knew.”

    Evyatar David, 24

    Evyatar David was taken hostage at the Nova music festival along with his childhood friend, Guy Gilboa-Dalal. In August, Hamas released a video of David, gaunt and pale, who said he was digging his own grave. The condition of the hostages in the videos horrified Israelis and led tens of thousands of protesters to take to the streets and demand a ceasefire deal, in one of the largest turnouts for the weekly hostage protests in months.

    Guy Gilboa-Dalal, 24

    Guy Gilboa-Dalal was among those abducted from the Nova music festival, while his brother managed to escape. In the past year, he’s appeared in two videos released by Hamas. In one, he appears alongside his childhood friend, David, with militants filming them pleading for their freedom in a vehicle while they watch three other hostages on stage being released to the Red Cross.

    Maksym Harkin, 37

    Maksym Harkin was abducted from Nova, which was the first festival he had ever attended, according to his family. Harkin was born in Ukraine and moved to Israel with his family, where he lived in Tirat HaCarmel in the north. He has a 3-year-old daughter and was the primary provider for his mother and 11-year-old brother. Just before he was taken, his mother said he sent a final text message that said, “I love you.” In July, Hamas released a video of him filmed under duress several months prior.

    Eitan Horn, 38

    Eitan Horn, originally from Kfar Saba, was visiting his brother Iair at the Nir Oz kibbutz on Oct. 7. Both were kidnapped. For most of the war, the two were held with three other hostages in a filthy cell underground. In early February, militants filmed the emotional interaction between the brothers as they were told that Iair would be released and Eitan would stay in Gaza. Since his release, Iair Horn has campaigned for his brother and the other hostages, flying frequently to the United States and meeting with politicians.

    Bipin Joshi, 24

    Bipin Joshi arrived in Israel from his native Nepal a month before the attack. He is the only non-Israeli hostage believed to be alive in Gaza. He came to Israel on a student exchange to work and study agriculture at kibbutz Alumim on the Gaza border. Ten of the 17 Nepali students in the program were killed during the attack. Joshi, who was able to throw a number of live grenades out of the bomb shelter where they were hiding, was injured and kidnapped. Joshi’s sister, 17-year-old Pushpa Joshi, regularly travels eight hours each direction on buses to Kathmandu from her home in western Nepal to lobby officials to secure her brother’s release. In August, his family traveled to Israel to meet with President Isaac Herzog and join families demonstrating in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square.

    Segev Kalfon, 27

    Segev Kalfon was kidnapped from the Nova music festival, where he was last seen attempting to flee militants along the highway. Before the attack, he worked at his family’s bakery in Dimona, in southern Israeli. The middle child of three, Kalfon had recently been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, a condition his family has highlighted in urging his release. Kalfon’s family received a sign of life from him after the last ceasefire, when some of the hostages said they were held with him for months. Kalfon’s family has focused on religious rituals in their fight for his release, including traveling to the grave of prominent rabbis and dedicating a Torah scroll in his honor.

    Bar Kupershtein, 23

    Bar Kupershtein was working at the Nova festival as a security guard when he was abducted. Witnesses said Kupershtein stayed at the festival to try to provide first aid to people who had been shot and injured. Kupershtein was the main financial support for his family after his father was severely injured in an accident several years ago, his aunt, Ora Rubinstein, told reporters. She said that his father worked with a physical therapist to regain the ability to speak, so he could meet with politicians to advocate for his son’s release. He has told the family that he will walk again when his son comes home, she said.

    Omri Miran, 48

    Omri Miran was kidnapped from the Nahal Oz kibbutz. During the attack, militants held his family, including his two daughters, ages 2 and 6 months, hostage in the kitchen of a neighbor’s house and then broadcast it on Facebook Live. Miran and the father of the other family, Tsachi Idan, were kidnapped. Idan’s body was released during the last hostage exchange after he was killed in captivity. Lishay Miran Lavi, Miran’s wife, said their younger daughter knows “daddy Omri” only through photos and videos, and doesn’t really understand what a father is.

    Eitan Mor, 25

    Eitan Mor was working as a security guard at the Nova music festival, where he helped evacuate people injured in the attack. Mor’s parents helped found the Tikva Forum, a loosely organized group of hostage families. They advocated for military pressure, not an immediate ceasefire or hostage release deal, as the best chance for bringing the hostages home. That stance has put Mor’s father at odds with many of the other families of hostages.

    Tamir Nimrodi, 20

    Tamir Nimrodi was kidnapped from Erez, a crossing on the northern border of Gaza that had been the main route for people entering and leaving the territory. He had been serving with the Israeli defense body overseeing humanitarian aid in Gaza. Nimrodi was kidnapped with two other soldiers by militants who walked them to the Gaza gate and forced them to cross. Israel confirmed the deaths of the two soldiers who were kidnapped with Nimrodi. There has been no sign of life from Nimrodi in the two years since he was seen in footage walking into Gaza in shorts and a T-shirt without his glasses. Herut Nimrodi, his mother, has said she doesn’t know what is worse: to think he has been killed in captivity, or that he’s alive but being held in terrible conditions. “I’m scared to even imagine,” she said.

    Yosef-Chaim Ohana, 25

    Yosef-Chaim Ohana was kidnapped from the Nova music festival, where he was working as a bartender. Witnesses saw him attempting to help others escape before he was kidnapped. He is the oldest of three brothers, one of whom previously died from an illness.

    Alon Ohel, 24

    Alon Ohel, who also has German and Serbian citizenship, was kidnapped at the Nova music festival from a mobile bomb shelter along with Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American-Israeli who was killed in captivity in August 2024. A talented pianist, his family has placed pianos across Israel and several sites around the world to raise awareness of his plight. Three other hostages who had been held with Ohel for more than a year were released during the previous ceasefire, including Eli Sharabi, who said Ohel was like his adopted son. Sharabi said they were kept chained for the entire period of their captivity and subsisted on a moldy pita per day. Ohel has shrapnel in his eye from the attack on the bomb shelter and his family is worried he may be partially blind.

    Avinatan Or, 32

    Avinatan Or was kidnapped from the Nova music festival along with his girlfriend, Noa Argamani, who was rescued by Israeli forces in June 2024. On Oct. 7, Hamas released a video of the pair that has become one of the most well-known videos from that day. It showed Argamani on an all-terrain vehicle crying, “Don’t kill me!” and reaching out her arms to Or, who is being marched away from her by militants. Or worked in hi-tech in Tel Aviv before his abduction.

    Matan Zangauker, 25

    Matan Zangauker was kidnapped from kibbutz Nir Oz along with his girlfriend, Ilana Gritzewsky. The two met while working on a medical cannabis farm there. Gritzewsky was released after 55 days and has since advocated tirelessly for his release, wearing a hat of Zangauker’s she rescued from their burned home. His mother, Einav, has been a constant presence at protests, giving impassioned speeches and even being hoisted in a cage above the crowd to draw attention to the hostages’ plight. Zangauker, who said she was previously a Netanyahu supporter, has emerged as one of his harshest critics. ___

    Associated Press writer Sam Metz contributed from Jerusalem.

    Copyright © 2025 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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  • Hope and Grief in Israel After the Gaza Ceasefire Deal

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    On Thursday, shortly after 1 A.M. in Israel, a sleepy screening of documentaries by recent film graduates on Channel 12 was interrupted by breaking news. An anchor announced that a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas had just been reached. The broadcast cut to the White House; footage showed President Donald Trump holding a roundtable event with conservative influencers, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio handed him a slip of paper.

    It was a handwritten note, caught by the Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci, that said “very close.” Both words were underlined. “We need you to approve a Truth Social post soon so you can announce deal first,” the message went on. Not long after, it was official. “This is the post we’ve likely all been waiting for,” the Israeli anchor said. She went on to read, in Hebrew, Trump’s statement: “I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan,” it began. “This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace.”

    News of a ceasefire had been expected ever since Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, held a joint press conference last week to announce their support for a White House proposal to end the war, and Hamas responded in a way that was marketed by Trump as a yes. But now it was official: the hostages would return home on Monday. It was as though Israelis drew in a collective breath and then exhaled. At the plaza outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, which had been rebranded as Hostages Square, late-night scenes of unimpeded joy erupted. Families of hostages, who have until now been restrained in their public reactions to a prospective agreement, allowed themselves to break down in tears of relief.

    Einav Zangauker and Anat Angrest, whose two sons—both named Matan—are in captivity in Gaza, held each other in a long embrace. “Matan and Matan are coming home!” Angrest cried out. Zangauker, who has become a symbol of the families’ long fight for the release of their loved ones, smiled warily. “Are there instructions for how to welcome your child after two years in captivity?” she asked, according to Haaretz.

    Michel Illouz, whose son had been killed while being held by Hamas, approached Zangauker and lifted her in the air. To see the jubilation of both parents—one whose son is alive and will be home soon, the other whose son is expected to return in a body bag—was to witness the full spectrum of emotions felt by Israelis in the past two years: hope coexisting with grief, and the terrible sense that much of the bloodshed could have been prevented. A similar deal had been on the table months ago. What began with the worst attack on Israeli soil in the country’s history—when Hamas killed twelve hundred Israelis and took more than two hundred hostages on October 7, 2023—has led to a gruesome war. The death toll in Gaza has surpassed sixty-seven thousand, with the enclave so ravaged that Israel has become something of an international pariah. For Israelis, the overwhelming sense is that their country has become ever more isolated on the world stage, even as its people remain in mourning. More than nine hundred Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza, and large numbers of the Army’s almost three hundred thousand reservists have been called up repeatedly for duty. Army suicide rates have been rising, too; sixteen soldiers have died that way this year, nearly half of them serving in reserve duty.

    Before dawn on Thursday, scenes of relief and celebration began streaming in from Gaza. A group of Palestinian toddlers, standing barefoot outside their makeshift tents, jumped up and down, crying out “Hudna!”—“Truce!” In the streets of Khan Younis, dozens of men huddled around a single television, whistling and cheering. The Israeli military has now begun its retreat out of Gaza City, and vacated the Netzarim Corridor, which had cleaved Gaza in two, between north and south.

    Over the past few days, delegations of Israeli and Hamas officials took part in talks in a ballroom in the Egyptian coastal town of Sharm el-Sheikh, to hash out the details of the agreement. Images also emerged showing the Israeli representative on the hostage issue, the retired general Nitzan Alon, smiling and shaking hands with Qatar’s Prime Minister, Mohammed al-Thani, just weeks after Israel attempted to assassinate top Hamas officials on Qatari soil.

    Despite the handshakes, however, many obstacles remain unaddressed. In particular, there is still uncertainty on the issue of who will govern postwar Gaza and whether Hamas will agree to disarm. The timeline of an Israeli withdrawal and its extent also remains to be seen. Also left unanswered for now is the identity of some of the so-called “heavy” Palestinian prisoners whom Israel has promised to release in exchange for the hostages. The number of Palestinian prisoners to be freed by Israel has already been agreed on—some two hundred and fifty prisoners, and seventeen hundred Palestinians whom Israel has detained after Hamas’s October 7th attacks. But it remains unclear whether, for example, Marwan Barghouti, a leader of the Tanzim militia of Fatah, who is widely seen by Palestinians as a symbol of resistance and a potential leader who can unite both Fatah and Hamas, will be released. Netanyahu has insisted that Israel will not free him, but the pressing timetable is such that many red lines on both sides will likely be breached.

    The ceasefire agreement is a crowning achievement for Trump, who appears to have timed it specifically to precede the announcement, on Friday, of the Nobel Peace Prize recipient—a long obsession of his. For Netanyahu, who up to this point has resisted an agreement to free all the hostages and end the war, the ceasefire deal marks an about-face. The political ramifications for him are still unknown. Although a majority of the Israeli public had been pushing for a hostage-and-ceasefire deal, Netanyahu’s extremist coalition partners have threatened to topple his government if the war ended and the Israeli military withdrew entirely from Gaza. Shortly after the agreement was announced, Trump called into Sean Hannity’s show on Fox News and said that he had just spoken to Netanyahu. “He said, ‘I can’t believe it. Everybody is liking me now,’ ” Trump said, of Netanyahu, in an account that is not likely to be appreciated by the Israeli premier. “I said, ‘More importantly, they are loving Israel again,’ and they really are. I said, ‘Israel cannot fight the world, Bibi. They cannot fight the world.’ ”

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    Ruth Margalit

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  • Israel and Hamas will exchange hostages and prisoners after agreeing to 1st phase of Gaza peace plan

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    Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of a peace plan for Gaza, paving the way for a pause in the fighting and the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Palestinians greeted the news cautiously Thursday as a possible breakthrough in ending the devastating 2-year-old war.Uncertainty remains about some of the thornier aspects of the plan advanced by the administration of President Donald Trump — such as whether and how Hamas will disarm, and who will govern Gaza. But the sides appear closer than they have been in months to ending a war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, destroyed most of Gaza and brought famine to parts of it, and triggered other conflicts across the Middle East.The war, which began with Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, has sparked worldwide protests and increasingly isolated Israel, as well as bringing allegations of genocide that Israel denies.Even with the agreement expected to be signed later in the day, Israeli strikes continued, with explosions seen Thursday morning in northern Gaza. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikes but earlier in the day said it had begun preparations for the implementation of the ceasefire, and troops were planning to transition to “adjusted deployment lines.”Following news of the agreement, Alaa Abd Rabbo, originally from northern Gaza but forced to move multiple times during the war, said it was “a godsend.”“This is the day we have been waiting for,” he said from the central city of Deir al-Balah. “We want to go home.”In Tel Aviv, families of the remaining hostages popped champagne and cried tears of joy when the deal was announced.“This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace,” Trump wrote on social media late Wednesday after the agreement was reached. “All Parties will be treated fairly!”Under the terms, Hamas intends to release all 20 living hostages in a matter of days, while the Israeli military will begin a withdrawal from the majority of Gaza, people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss details of an agreement that has not fully been made public.In an interview on Fox News, Trump said Hamas will begin releasing hostages “probably” on Monday.The breakthrough came on the third day of indirect talks in Egypt.“With God’s help we will bring them all home,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proclaimed on social media shortly after Trump’s announcement. Netanyahu said he would convene the government Thursday to approve the deal.Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has opposed previous ceasefire deals, said he had “mixed emotions on a complex morning.”While he welcomed the return of the hostages, he said he had “immense fear about the consequences of emptying the jails and releasing the next generation of terrorist leaders” and said that as soon as the hostages are returned, Israel must continue trying to eradicate Hamas and ensure Gaza is demilitarized.Hamas, meanwhile, called on Trump and the mediators to ensure that Israel implements “without disavowal or delay” the troop withdrawal, the entry of aid into the territory and the exchange of prisoners.Ahmed al-Farra, the general director of pediatrics at Khan Yunis’ Nasser Hospital, which has seen many of the casualties of the war, said he was still skeptical of Israel following through on the deal but held out hope.“We need to go back to living,” he said.Trump’s peace planThe Trump plan calls for an immediate ceasefire and release of the 48 hostages that militants in Gaza still hold from their attack on Israel two years ago. Some 1,200 people were killed by Hamas-led militants in that assault, and 251 were taken hostage. Israel believes around 20 of the hostages are still alive.Under the plan, Israel would maintain an open-ended military presence inside Gaza, along its border with Israel. An international force, comprised largely of troops from Arab and Muslim countries, would be responsible for security inside Gaza. The U.S. would lead a massive internationally funded reconstruction effort in Gaza.The plan also envisions an eventual role for the Palestinian Authority — something Netanyahu opposes. But it requires the authority, which administers parts of the West Bank, to undergo a sweeping reform program that could take years to implement.The Trump plan is even more vague about a future Palestinian state, which Netanyahu firmly rejects.Even with many details yet to be agreed, some Palestinians and Israelis expressed relief at the progress.“It’s a huge day, huge joy,” Ahmed Sheheiber, a Palestinian displaced man from northern Gaza, said of the ceasefire deal.Crying over the phone from his shelter in Gaza City, he said he was waiting “impatiently” for the ceasefire to go into effect to return to his home in the Jabaliya refugee camp.Joyful relatives of hostages and their supporters spilled into the central Tel Aviv square that has become the main gathering point in the struggle to free the captives.Einav Zangauker, the mother of Israeli captive Matan Zangauker and a prominent advocate for the hostages’ release, told reporters that she wants to tell her son she loves him.“If I have one dream, it is seeing Matan sleep in his own bed,” she said.This would be the third ceasefire since the start of the war.The first, in November 2023, saw more than 100 hostages, mainly women and children, freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. In the second, starting in January of this year, Palestinian militants released 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight more in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israel ended that ceasefire in March with a surprise bombardment.Praying for a dealIn the Gaza Strip, where much of the territory lies in ruins, Palestinians have been desperate for a breakthrough. Thousands fleeing Israel’s latest ground offensive have set up makeshift tents along the beach in the central part of the territory, sometimes using blankets for shelter.More than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and nearly 170,000 wounded, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.The ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half of the deaths were women and children, is part of the Hamas-run government. The United Nations and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.Ayman Saber, a Palestinian from Khan Younis, reacted to the ceasefire announcement by saying he plans to return to his home city and try to rebuild his house, which was destroyed last year by an Israeli strike.“I will rebuild the house, we will rebuild Gaza,” he said.___Mednick reported from Tel Aviv, Israel, and Madhani from Washington. Associated Press writers Eric Tucker in Washington, Sarah El Deeb in Beirut, David Rising in Bangkok and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.

    CAIRO —

    Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of a peace plan for Gaza, paving the way for a pause in the fighting and the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Palestinians greeted the news cautiously Thursday as a possible breakthrough in ending the devastating 2-year-old war.

    Uncertainty remains about some of the thornier aspects of the plan advanced by the administration of President Donald Trump — such as whether and how Hamas will disarm, and who will govern Gaza. But the sides appear closer than they have been in months to ending a war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, destroyed most of Gaza and brought famine to parts of it, and triggered other conflicts across the Middle East.

    The war, which began with Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, has sparked worldwide protests and increasingly isolated Israel, as well as bringing allegations of genocide that Israel denies.

    Even with the agreement expected to be signed later in the day, Israeli strikes continued, with explosions seen Thursday morning in northern Gaza. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

    The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikes but earlier in the day said it had begun preparations for the implementation of the ceasefire, and troops were planning to transition to “adjusted deployment lines.”

    Following news of the agreement, Alaa Abd Rabbo, originally from northern Gaza but forced to move multiple times during the war, said it was “a godsend.”

    “This is the day we have been waiting for,” he said from the central city of Deir al-Balah. “We want to go home.”

    In Tel Aviv, families of the remaining hostages popped champagne and cried tears of joy when the deal was announced.

    “This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace,” Trump wrote on social media late Wednesday after the agreement was reached. “All Parties will be treated fairly!”

    Under the terms, Hamas intends to release all 20 living hostages in a matter of days, while the Israeli military will begin a withdrawal from the majority of Gaza, people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss details of an agreement that has not fully been made public.

    In an interview on Fox News, Trump said Hamas will begin releasing hostages “probably” on Monday.

    The breakthrough came on the third day of indirect talks in Egypt.

    “With God’s help we will bring them all home,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proclaimed on social media shortly after Trump’s announcement. Netanyahu said he would convene the government Thursday to approve the deal.

    Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has opposed previous ceasefire deals, said he had “mixed emotions on a complex morning.”

    While he welcomed the return of the hostages, he said he had “immense fear about the consequences of emptying the jails and releasing the next generation of terrorist leaders” and said that as soon as the hostages are returned, Israel must continue trying to eradicate Hamas and ensure Gaza is demilitarized.

    Hamas, meanwhile, called on Trump and the mediators to ensure that Israel implements “without disavowal or delay” the troop withdrawal, the entry of aid into the territory and the exchange of prisoners.

    Ahmed al-Farra, the general director of pediatrics at Khan Yunis’ Nasser Hospital, which has seen many of the casualties of the war, said he was still skeptical of Israel following through on the deal but held out hope.

    “We need to go back to living,” he said.

    Trump’s peace plan

    The Trump plan calls for an immediate ceasefire and release of the 48 hostages that militants in Gaza still hold from their attack on Israel two years ago. Some 1,200 people were killed by Hamas-led militants in that assault, and 251 were taken hostage. Israel believes around 20 of the hostages are still alive.

    Under the plan, Israel would maintain an open-ended military presence inside Gaza, along its border with Israel. An international force, comprised largely of troops from Arab and Muslim countries, would be responsible for security inside Gaza. The U.S. would lead a massive internationally funded reconstruction effort in Gaza.

    The plan also envisions an eventual role for the Palestinian Authority — something Netanyahu opposes. But it requires the authority, which administers parts of the West Bank, to undergo a sweeping reform program that could take years to implement.

    The Trump plan is even more vague about a future Palestinian state, which Netanyahu firmly rejects.

    Even with many details yet to be agreed, some Palestinians and Israelis expressed relief at the progress.

    “It’s a huge day, huge joy,” Ahmed Sheheiber, a Palestinian displaced man from northern Gaza, said of the ceasefire deal.

    Crying over the phone from his shelter in Gaza City, he said he was waiting “impatiently” for the ceasefire to go into effect to return to his home in the Jabaliya refugee camp.

    Joyful relatives of hostages and their supporters spilled into the central Tel Aviv square that has become the main gathering point in the struggle to free the captives.

    Einav Zangauker, the mother of Israeli captive Matan Zangauker and a prominent advocate for the hostages’ release, told reporters that she wants to tell her son she loves him.

    “If I have one dream, it is seeing Matan sleep in his own bed,” she said.

    This would be the third ceasefire since the start of the war.

    The first, in November 2023, saw more than 100 hostages, mainly women and children, freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. In the second, starting in January of this year, Palestinian militants released 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight more in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israel ended that ceasefire in March with a surprise bombardment.

    Praying for a deal

    In the Gaza Strip, where much of the territory lies in ruins, Palestinians have been desperate for a breakthrough. Thousands fleeing Israel’s latest ground offensive have set up makeshift tents along the beach in the central part of the territory, sometimes using blankets for shelter.

    More than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and nearly 170,000 wounded, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

    The ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half of the deaths were women and children, is part of the Hamas-run government. The United Nations and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.

    Ayman Saber, a Palestinian from Khan Younis, reacted to the ceasefire announcement by saying he plans to return to his home city and try to rebuild his house, which was destroyed last year by an Israeli strike.

    “I will rebuild the house, we will rebuild Gaza,” he said.

    ___

    Mednick reported from Tel Aviv, Israel, and Madhani from Washington. Associated Press writers Eric Tucker in Washington, Sarah El Deeb in Beirut, David Rising in Bangkok and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.

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