Hamas released 20 of the last living hostages into Israeli custody on Monday as part of a cease-fire deal brokered between the U.S., Israel and Hamas.
The hostages were transferred from the Red Cross to the Israeli military on Monday and crossed over the border between Gaza and Israel. Israel, in turn, released 250 Palestinian prisoners into Gaza and the West Bank and more than 1,700 Palestinians it had detained in Gaza since the war broke out after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on an Israeli music festival. Hamas also plans to release the bodies of 28 hostages who died to their families.
The Hamas-led attack in 2023, which left some 1,200 people killed, sparked a massive retaliatory response by Israel in the Gaza Strip, one that has since left more than 67,000 people dead, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. The Hamas-run organization does not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths, but its figure has been universally cited as the most accurate estimate of the war’s fatalities, including by the United Nations.
President Donald Trump hailed the cease-fire and the release of the hostages on Monday as part of a “dawn of a new Middle East” in a speech before the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. He praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a man who, while “not the easiest guy to deal with,” showed “exceptional courage and patriotism” by agreeing to a deal.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, commended Trump as the “greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House” and suggested Trump should receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
Trump is set to meet later on Monday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and the leaders of Qatar, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, France, Germany and Indonesia as part of a peace summit celebrating the cease-fire.
