Table of Contents
- The Moment 20 Hostages Walked Free
- Families Reunite After 700 Days of Agony
- Trump’s Knesset Speech: Praise, Politics, and Peace Claims
- Palestinian Prisoners Return Home—But to What?
- What’s Next for Gaza? Ceasefire or Calm Before the Storm?
- Sources
The Moment 20 Hostages Walked Free
On Monday, October 13, 2025, the last 20 living Israeli hostages held in Gaza were released as part of a fragile ceasefire deal brokered with U.S. involvement. The International Committee of the Red Cross facilitated their handover from Hamas to Israeli forces near the Gaza border—a moment captured in grainy but emotional footage broadcast across the nation.
These hostages, seized during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack that killed approximately 1,200 people, had endured over 700 days in captivity. Their release marked the culmination of intense diplomatic efforts involving the U.S., Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey.
Families Reunite After 700 Days of Agony
For families who had spent two years campaigning, praying, and protesting for their loved ones’ return, Monday was nothing short of miraculous.
Einav Zangauker, mother of 25-year-old Matan Zangauker, broke down during a video call from Gaza just hours before his release. “There’s no war; it’s over,” she told him. “You are coming home!” Moments later, at a military reception center near the border, she embraced him, whispering, “My hero, my champion, my life.” Matan, wearing a white shirt and a backward baseball cap, asked about their dog—returned just days after the 2023 attack.
Alon Ohel, 24, a pianist abducted while fleeing the Nova music festival, was greeted by a chorus of friends in Tel Aviv shouting, “Alon Ohel, come here!” as they watched his release live on TV.
Other families shared similar scenes of raw emotion. Ilan Gilboa Dalal said he planned to tell his son, Guy: “The nightmare is over. You’re finally safe… We’re never leaving you again.”
Trump’s Knesset Speech: Praise, Politics, and Peace Claims
President Donald Trump, who arrived in Israel just as the hostages were being freed, addressed the Knesset—the first U.S. president to do so since George W. Bush in 2008. He called the ceasefire “the historic dawn of a new Middle East” and declared, “This is not only the end of a war—it’s the end of the age of terror and death.”
Yet his speech quickly veered into campaign-style rhetoric. He praised his own administration’s strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, blamed Barack Obama for the Iran nuclear deal, and even urged Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces bribery charges.
Despite the fanfare, Trump’s claim that the war is “over” remains premature. Israel insists Hamas must be fully dismantled before hostilities cease permanently—a condition Hamas has not accepted.
Palestinian Prisoners Return Home—But to What?
In exchange for the hostages, Israel released 1,968 Palestinian prisoners to the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza. Crowds in Ramallah and Khan Younis cheered as buses arrived, men waving keffiyehs and flashing victory signs.
But for many, freedom came with heartbreak. Some returned to neighborhoods reduced to rubble. Others learned that family members had been killed during the war, which Gazan health authorities say has claimed around 67,000 lives.
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that several released prisoners required immediate hospitalization—some suffering from untreated injuries or chronic illness exacerbated by incarceration.
What’s Next for Gaza? Ceasefire or Calm Before the Storm?
The current hostages released deal is only Phase One of a broader, still-undefined peace framework. Critical issues remain unresolved: Will Israel fully withdraw from Gaza? Will Hamas disarm? Who will govern the Strip?
Hamas has agreed in principle to transfer civilian governance to another Palestinian entity—but refuses to surrender its weapons. Netanyahu, meanwhile, insists the war cannot end until Hamas’s military and political structures are eradicated.
Abdullah Shehab, 32, a Gaza resident, summed up the uncertainty: “The situation is very fragile. The weak party hasn’t been convinced to accept the strong party’s demands.”
Later Monday, Trump flew to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, for an “International Peace Summit” with over 20 world leaders, including Mahmoud Abbas and Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Notably absent: Netanyahu, citing the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret.
For now, the guns are silent. But as rescue teams continue pulling bodies from Gaza’s ruins—60 in the past 24 hours alone—many wonder if this ceasefire is a turning point… or just a pause.
