After 738 days there are no longer any Israeli hostages alive in the hands of Hamas. As agreed last week in Sharm el Sheikh, this morning Hamas released twenty people it had kidnapped during the attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. Later today, the bodies of the 28 hostages who died during captivity will be returned to their families. But it is expected that this phase could last a few days. Part of the process will also involve identifying the remains of individual hostages.
At the same time as the release of the hostages, approximately 2,000 Palestinian prisoners were freed from the Israeli prison of Ofer in the West Bank. Among them 250 with heavy sentences, including life imprisonment.
The release of the hostages occurred in two phases and was completed while the president of the United States, who landed this morning at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, arrived at the Knesset (the Israeli parliament) to give a speech. Trump, architect of the peace plan together with Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye, arrived in Israel visibly satisfied. On the plane, before landing, he told reporters that this was “the eighth war” he had solved. Arriving in the Knesset he added: “This is a great day. The war is over. It is a completely new beginning, and I believe there has never been an event like it.”
The hostages were handed over by Hamas to the Red Cross, then to the Israeli army. In the so-called “hostage square” in Tel Aviv, the scene of demonstrations in the last two years, at least 65 thousand people followed the stages of the release on big screens, waving Israeli flags, showing photos and placards. Many also gathered near the Israeli military bases where the hostages were taken after the liberation.
After being reunited with their families, the hostages will be transported by helicopter to hospitals to receive medical treatment and undergo checks. However, the images of the first hostages released show them smiling and in fair condition.
Israeli television showed Einav Zangauker, mother of Matan Zangauker, 25, talking on a video call with her son in Gaza for the first time since he was kidnapped two years ago from his home in Nir Oz, near the Gaza border. “There is no more war, it’s over,” she told him. “You’ll come home!”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara included a personal note for the released hostages in the welcome kit prepared for them. The kit includes, among other things, clothes and personal items, a laptop, a mobile phone and a tablet.
After the speech to parliament and a meeting with the families of the hostages, Trump will reach Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, where together with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi he will preside over a summit with over 20 countries (Italy will also be represented by Giorgia Meloni) to discuss the peace process in Gaza. Netanyahu’s presence is still in doubt, initially not expected, but now not ruled out by the Israeli media (perhaps also due to possible pressure from Trump). Meanwhile, in the tourist resort on the Red Sea, large signs show Trump next to the Egyptian president with the phrase: “Welcome to the land of peace”.
