Hostages and prisoners freed, as Trump hails ‘golden age’ in Mideast

REIM, Israel — Israelis and Palestinians wept, cheered and expressed gratitude Monday as Hamas militants released the last 20 Israeli hostages in exchange for more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

This was the first phase of a ceasefire agreement that was put into effect last month, even as President Trump, the driving force behind the deal, made a victory speech to the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, before departing for a peace summit in Egypt.

Trump, who was greeted with a standing ovation before saying a word, heralded the agreement as the beginning of a “golden age” for Israel and the Middle East.

“After years of incessant wars and endless dangers, today the sky is calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are silent, and the sun is finally rising over the peaceful Holy Land,” he said.

His words belied the many challenges facing an agreement that remains far from a comprehensive road map that could definitively end a war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and devastated much of the Gaza Strip, even though it has scarred Israeli society with 1,200 deaths and prompted unprecedented international condemnation from the country’s leadership.

The night before the planned morning surrender, tens of thousands of Israelis flocked to Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square and the roadside near southern Israel’s Reim military base, where the hostages would be brought after their release.

As the party atmosphere took over on the road to Reim, the crowd waved Israeli and American flags and swayed to the song whose lyrics read, “I’m coming home, tell the world I’m coming home” as Sikorsky Super Stallion helicopters landed in a dusty field to the cheers of the nearby crowd.

While passing cars honked their horns in greeting, a passenger rolled down his window and shouted, “The kidnapped people are coming back!” he shouted.

“My smile has been stuck since Thursday and my jaw hurts from it, since I never did it in two years,” said Sarit Kenny, 65, a resident of a nearby kibbutz who said she has attended a rally every week since the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, to call for the return of the hostages.

He pointed to the American flag in his hand and said he wanted it to be an expression of his appreciation for Trump.

Matan Zangauker is reunited with his mother at the first reception point after being released by the militant group Hamas.

(Israeli Defense Forces / Associated Press)

“He is actually the one who did this. He did what our Prime Minister did not do,” he said.

Jonathan Kaneh, 46, who owns a polymer factory on the kibbutz of Orim, saw a more sombre moment on the air. On October 7, Hamas militants in a truck opened fire on him as he was riding his bicycle; The bullet grazed his arm, but he was otherwise uninjured. At the same time, the war forced him to close his business.

He had arrived early to celebrate the start of the attack, which began at 6.29am two years ago.

“It was important for me to come here, to close this circle. Many people’s lives ended here,” he said, his voice deepening with emotion.

For many, this day represented a moment that combined religion and a sense of history, with the release of the hostages coinciding with the religious holiday of Simchat Torah, just as they had when they were kidnapped on Simchat Torah two years earlier.

“It’s a blessing for me to be here right now, and most people agree that we should be here,” said Uzi Bar-On, 70, as he sat in a lawn chair with his dog, Jimmy, and made coffee on a portable stove.

At the meeting held in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, people reacted in anticipation of the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

(Oded Balilty / Associated Press)

Bar-On said he had been consumed with thoughts of revenge against Hamas and the people of Gaza for the past two years, but that the release of the hostages could help the Israelis move on.

“I want to see the hostages first. When I see them with my own eyes, not through the press, maybe then I can start to think differently,” he said.

As the convoy of pickup trucks and military vehicles carrying the first group passed, cheers rose from the crowd.

This appeared to coincide with the moment Air Force One was about to land at Ben Gurion International Airport before being flown to Jerusalem to meet hostage families before Trump’s speech to the Knesset.

In addition to praising his administration’s accomplishments (and opposing former Presidents Obama and Biden), Trump has given a full-throated endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a deeply unpopular figure among many Israelis who blame their leaders for involving the country in the war in the first place and accuse him of prolonging the war for his own political purposes.

But Trump insisted Netanyahu was doing a “great job” and waded into Israel’s internal affairs, urging the president to pardon Netanyahu for the corruption charges he faces. Trump also praised envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner for their efforts to broker the deal while considering the idea of ​​Israel making peace with Iran.

He then flew to Egypt for a summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, where he met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi and a number of Arab and Islamist leaders to discuss next steps towards Gaza. At the summit, which was heavy on ceremony but light on concrete action, Sisi bestowed Egypt’s highest civilian honor on Trump.

President Trump speaks at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in Jerusalem on October 13, 2025.

(Evelyn Hockstein / Associated Press)

The agreement brokered by Trump calls for Hamas to release the bodies of 28 hostages who died in captivity and return each of them in exchange for the bodies of 15 Palestinians killed on October 7.

Four bodies were released on Monday. In recent days, Hamas has said it faces difficulties recovering bodies from the rubble of war-torn buildings in Gaza.

A few hours after the release of the second group of hostages, buses carrying approximately 1,700 Gazans detained in Israel over the past two years set out for the Palestinian territory, along with 250 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment for attacks on Israelis.

In Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, two busloads of 88 families gathered at the Ramallah Palace of Culture, a venue normally reserved for demonstrations, to greet relatives, some of whom they had not seen in decades.

When the buses arrived, Palestinian security forces tried to restore order, but were soon overwhelmed by the crowd. Prisoners and detainees emerged with shaved heads, looking gaunt and pale in the afternoon sun; many said this was indicative of the harsh treatment they received.

Despite their joy at the release, few people were willing to be interviewed, saying Israeli authorities warned them not to celebrate or speak to the media under threat of re-arrest.

A released prisoner who spent 20 years in Israeli prisons said, “When we saw all the people here, we forgot all our pain. But our brothers detained inside are still suffering.” He had a cigarette in one hand and the phone he used to talk to his nephew for the first time in the other.

Fatah member Yahya Nimr Ahmad Ibrahim, who was arrested in 2003 and sentenced to 23 years in prison, said: “I am tired, but thank God for everything.” Wrapped in a black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh, the man looked gaunt as family members carried him on their shoulders in celebration.

According to Palestinian rights groups, the list of Palestinian detainees to be released was a matter of debate until the last minute. According to Palestinian rights groups, there are at least 100 more detainees who have been sentenced to life imprisonment and will not be released.

Raed Abu Al-Hummus, head of the Detainee Relations Commission, said the commission had received hundreds of calls from people angry that their loved ones had not been released.

Palestinians released from Israeli prisons make a victory sign from inside a bus.

(Ayman Nobani/Ayman Nobani/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

For others, the release of the prisoners was bittersweet: 154 of the 250 prisoners would be deported to Gaza, Egypt, Malaysia or Türkiye, and their family members were subject to travel restrictions so they were unlikely to see them anytime soon.

In other parts of the crowd, families who had been informed that their loved ones would be released were mixed with surprise and anger when they learned that they were not on the bus.

Raed Imran, brother of Palestinian Islamic Jihad member Mohammed Imran, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison, said, “We don’t know what happened. The Israeli army called me last night and said that my brother would come here. They even demolished our house so that we could not come and celebrate. Then we heard that he would be exiled, but no one knows where he is.”

His sister Ibtisam was also crying next to him.

“We prepared all of his favorite meals, all of them,” she said, barely able to keep her voice from crying. “We’ve been working for this moment for two days. We even keep the dishes ready in the car, ready for him when he comes out.”

Imran also started to burst into tears.

“We don’t know. Nobody told us anything,” he said.

As the afternoon sun set, the crowd began to thin out, except for a few families seeking information about their missing loved ones from anyone who appeared to be in authority. But soon they too left.