Hamas hands over surviving Israeli hostages as Trump visits region

Wires
Oct 13, 2025

JERUSALEM – Hamas handed over all 20 surviving hostages to Israel on Monday, a major step towards ending two years of devastating war in Gaza as U.S. President Donald Trump, who helped broker the truce, proclaimed it was "a great day."
The Israeli military said it had received the remaining 13 hostages after a first batch of seven arrived earlier Monday, announcements that prompted cheering, hugging and weeping among thousands waiting at "Hostage Square" in Tel Aviv.

"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, Israel's parliament, before flying on to Egypt for a summit aimed at building conditions for a lasting peace in Gaza.

Asked if the two-year Gaza war was over, he said: "Yes."

"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 traveled to Reim, an Israeli military camp where the hostages were being transferred.

Bodies of some of the 28 dead hostages, and another two whose fate is unknown, were also to be released Monday, along with nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees and convicted prisoners held in Israel.

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.

The releases are one of the most important parts of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement concluded last week in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where Trump and more than 20 other world leaders were set to convene later Monday.

The U.S. 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.

Trump had said earlier that Tony Blair could play a role on the board but on Sunday he questioned whether Blair, the former British prime minister, would be acceptable given criticisms of his role in the Iraq War.

Under the plan, as Israel conducts a partial withdrawal from Gaza, it will be replaced by a multinational force coordinated by a U.S.-led command center in Israel.

Progress toward a lasting peace now hinges on global commitments that may be taken up at Monday's summit, but much could yet go wrong.

Further steps in Trump's 20-point plan have yet to be agreed by the two sides. Those include how the demolished Gaza Strip will be governed once fighting ends, and the ultimate fate of Hamas, which has rejected Israel's demands that it disarm.

The group's appearance on Monday 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.


U.S. President Donald Trump is welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) and President Isaac Herzog (left) at Ben Gurion Airport on the outskirts of Lod, near Tel Aviv, on Monday. | AFP-JIJI
The Hamas-run Interior Ministry earlier said it would deploy security forces in areas where the Israeli army withdrew. It was unclear whether armed militants would return to the streets in significant numbers, which Israel would see as a provocation.

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 toward the creation of a Palestinian state, something rejected by many Israelis.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has warned that once the hostages were back, the military would proceed to destroy Hamas' underground tunnel network in Gaza.

Trump landed in Israel shortly after the announced release of the first group of hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood waiting at the airport as Air Force One taxied in, then accompanied Trump by limousine as a band played.

Trump was set to become just the fourth U.S. president to address the Knesset, following Jimmy Carter in 1979, Bill Clinton in 1994 and George W. Bush in 2008. He will be awarded Israel’s highest civilian honor later this year, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said.

Two years of war have reduced Gaza to a sea of rubble, with nearly all its 2.2 million people homeless, and caused a humanitarian disaster on a huge scale. It has also reshaped the Middle East through spillover Israeli conflicts with Iran, Lebanon's Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthis.

Near Israel's Reim camp, where the hostages were being 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.

At Israeli prisons, some 1,966 Palestinian detainees boarded buses and most were expected to be released at Gaza's Nasser Hospital on Monday, an official involved in the operation said.

Among the Palestinian prisoners set to be released, 250 were security detainees, including many convicted of killing Israelis, while about 1,700 were detained by the Israeli army in Gaza during the war.

In a statement Monday, the armed wing of Hamas affirmed its commitment to the terms and timeline of the deal, contingent on Israel’s adherence. It said Israel agreed to a ceasefire and swap deal after it failed to free the hostages through its military offensive.

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.

Meanwhile, the European Union will Wednesday restart a civilian mission to monitor the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt in support of a ceasefire deal, the bloc's top diplomat said Monday.

"The EU stands ready to do its part," Kaja Kallas posted on X after Hamas released a first group of Israeli hostages as part of the U.S.-brokered agreement. "This mission can play an important role in supporting the ceasefire."