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".
Released hostage Alon Ohel, who was kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas and taken to Gaza, gestures upon arrival at Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Hospital, amid a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Petah Tikva, Israel October 13, 2025. Reuters/Stoyan Nenov
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 on 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 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."
Buses carrying freed Palestinian detainees as part of the ceasefire and hostage release deal also began moving towards the Palestinian enclave from Israeli prisons, footage on Israeli television showed.
"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.
By Maayan Lubell and Nidal al-Mughrabi
What we just saw with Zohran Mamdani’s win in New York is not a one-off. It’s a sign of where progressive politics is headed, and what’s coming next could shake the Democratic establishment to its core.
The United States has drafted a United Nations resolution that approves a two-year mandate for a Gaza transitional governance body and an international stabilization force in the Palestinian enclave, according to the text seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
In a city that once prided itself on being the beating heart of American pluralism and resilience, New Yorkers have just handed the keys to City Hall to Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist firebrand whose ascension reeks of ideological fanaticism masquerading as progress.
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