Gaza hostages freed as world leaders back Trump’s peace deal; AFP probes Thorpe’s ‘burn down Parliament house’ comment

All 20 living hostages held by Hamas and thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel were released yesterday as part of a ceasefire that ended a two-year war that decimated the Gaza Strip and killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.

The first seven hostages were transferred by Hamas to the care of Red Cross personnel and later handed over to the Israeli Armed Forces; Meanwhile, Palestinians gathered at a hospital in Gaza, where buses were bringing home some of the nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees to be released by Israel as part of the peace deal.

World leaders, who gathered in Egypt for a summit on post-war Gaza, supported the Middle East “peace agreement” brokered by the United States and President Donald Trump.

In his speech to the Israeli parliament, Trump asserted himself as a great global peacemaker, congratulated Israel on winning the war against Hamas, and heralded a deal with Iran.

Thousands of Palestinians returned to Gaza City in a parade of trucks, donkeys, horse-drawn carriages and families on foot heading north.

Many people are returning to suburbs razed by Israel over the past two years, according to the Israeli military, in the final months of the war, including intense bombardment of the city in September that forced nearly 700,000 people to flee.