JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Hamas freed the last 20 surviving Israeli hostages on Monday under a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal, a big step towards ending two years of shattering war in Gaza as President Donald Trump proclaimed the “historic dawn of a new Middle East”.
The Israeli military said it had received all hostages confirmed to be alive after their transfer from Gaza by the Red Cross, prompting cheering, hugging and weeping among thousands waiting at “Hostage Square” in Tel Aviv.
“The skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still and the sun rises on a Holy Land that is finally at peace,” Trump told the Knesset (Israeli parliament) in a speech before flying on to Egypt for a summit aimed at building conditions for an enduring peace in Gaza.
The release of hostages and Palestinian detainees was a pivotal aspect of the first phase of the Gaza accord concluded last week in the Egyptian seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where Monday’s summit will take place.
Over 20 world leaders will weigh next steps under Trump’s 20-point blueprint for peace two years after the October 7, 2023 cross-border Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people with 251 taken hostage, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.
Israeli air strikes, bombardments and armoured ground offensives have since devastated Gaza, killing more than 67,000 Palestinians, the enclave’s health officials say, and laying waste to much of the enclave, causing a humanitarian disaster.
Trump is only the fourth U.S. president to address the Knesset, following Jimmy Carter in 1979, Bill Clinton in 1994 and George W. Bush in 2008 and was greeted with a nearly unanimous standing ovation. Knesset speaker Amir Ohana said Israel would nominate Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize.
