Hamas frees last Israeli hostages
\nPalestinian prisoners return to Gaza and West Bank, greeted with joy before Egypt ceasefire summit
\n Gaza
\nHamas freed the last living Israeli hostages on Monday under a ceasefire deal, a major step towards ending two years of ruinous war in Gaza, as US President Donald Trump addressed Israel\u2019s parliament urging the country to turn military success into peace.
\nThe 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 \u201cHostage Square\u201d in Tel Aviv.
\nSome 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, some hoisted on the shoulders of delighted relatives.
\nTrump addresses Israeli parliament
\n\u201cThe skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still and the sun rises on a Holy Land that is finally at peace,\u201d Trump told the Knesset, saying a \u201clong nightmare\u201d for both Israelis and Palestinians was over.
\n\u201cNow 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,\u201d he said before departing for Egypt to attend a peace summit.
\nHowever, formidable obstacles remain to a lasting resolution of the Gaza war, let alone to the wider, generations-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict or other deep divisions in the region.
\nFollow-up summit to address Gaza\u2019s future
\nThe release of hostages and Palestinian detainees marked the first phase of the Gaza accord concluded last week in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where Monday\u2019s summit will take place.
\nOver 20 world leaders are expected to discuss how to implement the next steps under Trump\u2019s 20-point peace blueprint.
\nThe deal came two years after the October 7, 2023 cross-border Hamas assault that killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostage \u2014 the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.
\nIsraeli airstrikes, bombardments and ground offensives have since killed over 67,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza\u2019s health ministry, and laid waste to much of the enclave.
\nA global hunger monitor said Gaza City and surrounding areas are suffering from famine affecting over half a million people, while most of the enclave\u2019s 2.2 million residents are homeless.
\nAid flows are expected to improve under Trump\u2019s plan. U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher emphasized the need to \u201cget shelter and fuel to people who desperately need it and massively scale up food, medicine and other supplies.\u201d
\nThe war has also reshaped the Middle East, triggering clashes between Israel and Iran, Lebanon\u2019s Hezbollah and Yemen\u2019s Houthis.
\nTrump also floated the idea of a peace deal between arch-enemies Iran and Israel, telling the Knesset: \u201cI think Iran wants it. Wouldn\u2019t it be nice?\u201d
\nJoy, relief on both sides
\nBeaming with relief, two freed hostages waved to cheering crowds from vans on their way to an Israeli hospital \u2014 one holding a large Israeli flag, another forming a heart with his hands.
\nVideo footage showed emotional scenes of families receiving phone calls from loved ones as they were being released, their faces lighting up with disbelief after months of anguish.
\n\u201cI am so excited. I am full of happiness. It\u2019s hard to imagine how I feel this moment. I didn\u2019t sleep all night,\u201d said Viki Cohen, mother of hostage Nimrod Cohen, as she travelled to Reim, an Israeli military base where the hostages were transferred.
\nMost of the freed Palestinians were detained during the war, but 250 were serving sentences or awaiting trial for deadly attacks or security offences.
\nThousands gathered at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, waving Palestinian flags and holding photos of relatives.
\n\u201cI am happy for our sons who are being freed, but we are still in pain for all those killed and all the destruction in Gaza,\u201d said one woman, identifying herself as Um Ahmed.
\nLikely pitfalls
\nWashington brokered the agreement alongside Egypt, Qatar and Turkey. The next phase will establish an international \u201cBoard of Peace\u201d led by Trump.
\nMuch could still go wrong. Key issues remain unresolved, including who will govern Gaza once fighting ends and the future role of Hamas.
\nHamas gunmen carried out a security crackdown in Gaza City after Israel\u2019s pullback, killing 32 members of a rival group, a Palestinian security source said.
\nAs he entered the Knesset, Trump said Hamas had agreed to disarm under his plan, although the group has previously rejected this without Palestinian statehood.
\nTrump\u2019s envoys met Hamas negotiators in Sharm el-Sheikh before the ceasefire was finalized, a senior Palestinian official said.
\nFurther challenges include Israel\u2019s withdrawal from Gaza and moves toward an adjacent Palestinian state \u2014 an outcome many Israelis oppose.
\nThe bodies of 26 confirmed dead hostages, and two others whose fate was unknown, will also be returned Monday. A committee has been formed to locate remains believed buried in Gaza\u2019s rubble.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hamas frees last Israeli hostages Palestinian prisoners return to Gaza and West Bank, greeted with joy before Egypt ceasefire summit Gaza Hamas freed the last living Israeli hostages on Monday under a ceasefire deal, a major step towards ending two years of ruinous war in Gaza, as US President Donald Trump addressed Israel\u2019s parliament urging […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508491,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-508482","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n