Hamas released the last 20 surviving Israeli hostages on Monday under a ceasefire deal, a major step towards ending two years of shattering war in Gaza as U.S. President Donald Trump, who helped broker the truce, proclaimed “a new beginning”.
The Israeli military said it had received all hostages confirmed to be alive after their transfer from Gaza by the Red Cross, prompting cheering, hugging and weeping among thousands waiting at “Hostage Square” in Tel Aviv.
Buses carrying released Palestinians freed from Israeli prisons as part of the accord also arrived in Gaza, an official involved in the operation told Reuters.
“This is a great day. This is a new beginning,” Trump said after arriving to a hero’s welcome in Israel where he was addressing the Knesset before flying on to Egypt for a summit aimed at building conditions for a lasting peace in Gaza.
TWO-YEAR WAR IS OVER, TRUMP SAYS
Asked if the two-year Gaza war was over, he said: “Yes.”
Initial photographs of six of the freed Israeli hostages distributed by the Israeli military showed them standing, some smiling and talking with soldiers who were receiving them.
“I am so excited. I am full of happiness. It’s hard to imagine how I feel this moment. I didn’t sleep all night,” said Viki Cohen, mother of hostage Nimrod Cohen, as she travelled to Reim, an Israeli military camp where the hostages were being transferred.
In Gaza, about a dozen masked and black-clad gunmen, apparently members of Hamas’ armed wing, arrived at Nasser Hospital where a stage and chairs had been laid out to welcome returning Palestinian prisoners.
“I hope that these images can be the end to this war. We lost friends and relatives, we lost our houses and our city,” said Emad Abu Joudat, 57, a Palestinian father of six from Gaza City as he watched the handover preparations on his phone.
FOLLOW-UP SUMMIT TO ADDRESS GAZA’S FUTURE
The release of hostages and a concurrent freeing of Palestinian detainees form a critical aspect of the first phase of the ceasefire accord concluded last week in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh where Monday’s summit will take place.
Over 20 world leaders will weigh next steps under Trump’s 20-point plan aimed at securing a lasting peace after two years of war that began with the October 7, 2023 cross-border Hamas attack that killed around 1,200 people with 251 taken hostage.
Israeli airstrikes, bombardments and armoured ground assaults have since devastated Gaza, killing more than 67,000 Palestinians, the enclave’s health officials say, and laying waste to much of the enclave, causing a humanitarian disaster.
The Trump administration mediated the agreement along with Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, with the next phase calling for an international body – a “Board of Peace” – led by Trump.
However, much could still go wrong with further steps on which previous truce efforts faltered yet to be agreed. Those include how the tiny, densely populated coastal territory will be governed once fighting ends, and the ultimate fate of Hamas.
The group’s appearance on Monday with fighters gathered at Nasser Hospital underscored the likely difficulty of assuaging Israeli concerns about the Islamist group’s continued hold over Gaza, which it has ruled since 2007.
Hamas killed 32 members of what it called a “gang” in Gaza City during a security campaign launched after the ceasefire, a Palestinian security source said on Monday.
As he entered the Israeli Knesset (parliament), Trump said Palestinian militant group Hamas would comply with a provision under his plan for it to disarm.
Further sticking points may include Israel’s own continued withdrawal from the Gaza Strip beyond the lines to which it pulled back in recent days, and moves towards the creation of a Palestinian state, something rejected by many Israelis.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will attend the summit, Egypt said on Monday.
Trump will become only the fourth U.S. president to address the Knesset, following Jimmy Carter in 1979, Bill Clinton in 1994 and George W. Bush in 2008.
SEA OF RUBBLE
Bodies of some of the 26 confirmed dead hostages, and another two whose fate was unknown, will also be released on Monday.
A committee has been established to locate some bodies that may be hard to locate.
Dozens of buses carrying some of the nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees being freed from Israeli prisons as part of the deal arrived in Gaza.
Most were detainees taken by Israeli forces during the war in Gaza but the group included 250 prisoners convicted of involvement in deadly attacks or held under suspicion of such security offences.
Two years of war have reduced Gaza to a sea of rubble, with nearly all its 2.2 million people homeless. It has also reshaped the Middle East through spillover Israeli conflicts with Iran, Lebanon’s Tehran-backed Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis.
Near Israel’s Reim camp, where the hostages will be brought to be taken to hospitals, people lined the road waving Israeli flags on which a yellow ribbon – the symbol of remembrance for the hostages – was interwoven with the blue Star of David.
The family of hostage Matan Angrest thanked Trump for his work bringing their son back. “We can breathe again. Our Matan is home!” they said
U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher said on X that Israel had approved the delivery of more emergency supplies and the main U.N. aid agency working in Gaza, UNRWA, urged Israel to let it work unhindered in the territory.
