Twenty surviving hostages were returned to Israel on Monday, marking the first step in a historic ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
The deal is part of a broader plan brokered by US President Donald Trump’s administration to end the two-year conflict.
Trump addressed Israeli lawmakers on Tuesday.
How were the hostages released?
The Israeli military said all freed captives were reunited with their families and were taken to hospitals for medical examinations.
Israel released photos of the hostages’ return home, including a photo of 28-year-old twins Gali and Ziv Berman, who were reunited embracing after months of captivity in the Gaza Strip.
The first hostages freed said that the twins were kept apart. Photographs of the first seven hostages freed on Monday show them looking paler but less gaunt than those freed in January.
Hamas initially released seven hostages, followed by 13 more.
Under the agreement, Israel began freeing some of the more than 1,900 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
TV broadcasts showed tearful scenes as families met their relatives in Israeli hospitals. In Tel Aviv and other cities, large crowds gathered in public squares to watch the delivery live, cheering as TV anchors confirmed the hostages’ release.
What happened to the dead hostages?
There is still uncertainty in Gaza about the fate of the dead hostages.
The Forum for Hostages and Disappeared Families said Hamas expected only four of the 28 dead captives to return. Israeli officials have not confirmed the figures, and the military said it did not expect all the bodies to be returned on Monday, despite the ceasefire stipulating repatriation within 72 hours of the fighting ending.
A government statement said that, if Hamas failed to hand over all the remains, “an international body” would assist in finding them.
What about Palestinians captured by Israel?
In the occupied West Bank, thousands of people celebrated as buses carrying freed Palestinians left Ofer prison for Beitunia, near Ramallah. The crowd waved flags and chanted slogans welcoming people home.
In Gaza’s southern city of Khan Yunis, hundreds of people gathered outside Nasser Hospital to welcome buses carrying freed Palestinians. According to Israeli officials, the group includes about 250 people serving life sentences for attacks on Israelis, as well as about 1,700 Gazans detained without formal charges during the war.
The ceasefire, the first since the latest phase of the conflict began, brings a rare moment of respite after two years of violence, although officials on both sides warned that it remains fragile and dependent on continued exchanges and adherence to its terms.
What did Trump say to the Knesset?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog congratulated President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, the President’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, as well as senior adviser Steve Witkoff upon their arrival in Jerusalem.
Trump met with families of Israeli hostages and addressed the Knesset, where lawmakers gave him a standing ovation and chanted his name. “Generations from now, this will be remembered as the moment when everything started to change,” Trump told Congress. “Now is the time to turn these victories against terrorists on the battlefield into the ultimate prize of peace and prosperity for the entire Middle East.”
Later on Monday, Trump and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi are set to co-chair a summit in Egypt with leaders of more than 20 countries to discuss the future of Gaza and broader regional stability.
Hamas-led militants abducted about 250 people in the October 7 attack, which killed about 1,200, mostly civilians.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since the attacks, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but the United Nations and several humanitarian organizations consider the casualty figures to be widely credible.
Edited by: Roshni Majumdar