Hamas hands over all living hostages to Israel; Trump says Gaza war over
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JERUSALEM/CAIRO/DOHA – Hamas freed the last living Israeli hostages on Oct 13 under a ceasefire deal, a big step towards ending two years of ruinous war in Gaza as US President Donald Trump addressed Israel’s Parliament, urging it to turn military success into peace.
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 Hostages Square in Tel Aviv.
Some of the nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees freed by Israel as part of the accord, ahead of a summit in Egypt to cement the ceasefire, began arriving in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, with a few hoisted on the shoulders of delighted relatives.
Trump addresses Israeli Parliament
“The skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still, and the sun rises on a Holy Land that is finally at peace,” Mr Trump told the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, saying a “long nightmare” for both Israelis and Palestinians was over.
“Now it is time to translate these victories against terrorists on the battlefield into the ultimate prize of peace and prosperity for the entire Middle East,” he said, before his planned trip to Egypt for the summit.
However, formidable obstacles remain in reaching a resolution over the Gaza conflagration, let alone one to the wider, generations-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict or other longstanding schisms running through the Middle East.
Summit to address Gaza’s future
The release of hostages and the 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 the summit on Oct 13 will take place.
More than 20 world leaders will weigh next steps under Mr Trump’s 20-point plan aimed at securing a lasting peace after two years of war that began with the Oct 7, 2023 cross-border Hamas attack
Israeli air strikes, bombardments and ground offensives have since killed over 67,000 Palestinians and laid waste to much of the enclave.
A global hunger monitor said Gaza City and surrounding areas are suffering from famine
Aid supplies are meant to flow more smoothly into the enclave under Mr Trump’s plan.
United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher underlined the need to “get shelter and fuel to people who desperately need them and to massively scale up the food and medicine and other supplies going in”.
The war has also reshaped the Middle East through spillover Israeli conflicts with Iran, Lebanon’s Tehran-backed Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis.
Mr Trump in his speech also floated the idea of a peace deal between Middle East arch-enemies Iran and Israel
Joy, relief on both sides
The mood on Oct 13 though was primarily of relief and joy over the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
Two beaming hostages waved to cheering crowds from vans on the way to an Israeli hospital, one hoisting a large Israeli flag, then forming a heart with his hands.
Video footage captured emotional scenes of families receiving phone messages from their loved ones as they were being released, their faces lighting up with disbelief and hope after months of anguish.
“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 Ms Viki Cohen, mother of hostage Nimrod Cohen, as she travelled to Reim, an Israeli military camp where the hostages were to be transferred.
Most of the freed Palestinians, meanwhile, were detained during the war, but the group also includes 250 prisoners convicted of involvement in deadly attacks or held under suspicion of security offences.
Several thousand gathered inside and around Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, some waving Palestinian flags, others holding photos of their relatives.
Fighting back tears, one woman who asked to be identified as Ms Um Ahmed said she had “mixed feelings” about the day.
“I am happy for our sons who are being freed, but we are still in pain for all those who had been killed by the occupation, and all the destruction that happened to our Gaza,” she told Reuters by voice note.
Likely pitfalls
The US mediated the agreement along with Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, with the next phase calling for an international body – a “Board of Peace” – led by Mr Trump.
However, much could still go wrong. Further steps over which previous truce efforts stumbled have yet to be agreed on, including how the densely populated coastal territory will be governed once fighting ends, and the ultimate fate of Hamas.
The militant group’s appearance on Oct 13 with fighters gathered at Nasser Hospital underscored the likely difficulty of assuaging Israeli concerns about the Islamist militant group’s continued hold over Gaza, which it has ruled since 2007.
Hamas gunmen launched a security crackdown in Gaza City after Israel’s pullback, killing 32 members of a rival group, a Palestinian security source said.
As he entered the Knesset, Mr Trump said Hamas would comply with a provision under his plan for it to disarm, although the group has ruled this out before Palestinians achieve statehood.
Mr Trump’s envoys met Hamas negotiators in Sharm el-Sheikh before the ceasefire was agreed on, a senior Palestinian official familiar with the matter said.
Further sticking points may include Israel’s own continued withdrawal from the Gaza Strip beyond the lines to which it has pulled back in recent days, and moves towards the creation of a Palestinian state, something many Israelis reject.
Mr Trump was greeted with a nearly unanimous standing ovation in the Knesset – a rare sign of unity among parties that are often at odds.
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana said Israel would nominate Mr Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize.
Sea of rubble
Bodies of some of the 26 confirmed dead Israeli hostages, and another two whose fate was unknown, are reportedly set to be released. A committee has been established to locate some bodies likely lost in the wreckage and disorder of Gaza.
Two years of war have reduced Gaza to a sea of rubble and caused a humanitarian disaster on a huge scale.
Near Israel’s Reim camp, where the hostages were sent 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 Mr Trump for his work in bringing their son back.
“We can breathe again. Our Matan is home!” they said. REUTERS
