Hamas handed over the first seven of 20 surviving Israeli hostages on 13 October, a key step in ending two years of ruinous war in Gaza under a ceasefire deal engineered by U.S. President Donald Trump, who landed in Israel to address its parliament.
With hundreds of cheering people gathered in Tel Aviv's Hostage Square, Israel's military said it had received the first seven of 20 surviving hostages after their transfer out of Gaza by the Red Cross.
"I am so excited. I am full of happiness. It's hard to imagine how I feel this moment. I didn't sleep all night," said Viki Cohen, mother of hostage Nimrod Cohen.
The military said the Red Cross was en route to receive more of the remaining 13 confirmed living hostages, who were all expected to be released on Monday.
The release of Palestinian prisoners has begun, with buses carrying detainees departing Israeli prisons for Gaza and the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office.
In Gaza, about a dozen masked and black-clad gunmen, apparently members of Hamas' armed wing, arrived at Nasser Hospital where a stage and chairs had been laid out to welcome returning Palestinian prisoners.
"I hope that these images can be the end to this war. We lost friends and relatives, we lost our houses and our city," said Emad Abu Joudat, 57, a Palestinian father.
The releases are one of the most important parts of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement concluded last week in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh where Trump and other world leaders will be meeting later on Monday.
Trump landed in Israel shortly after the announced release of the first batch of hostages. He will address the parliament before heading to Egypt.
Near Israel's Reim camp, where the hostages will be brought to be taken to hospitals, people lined the road waving Israeli flags on which a yellow ribbon - the symbol of remembrance for the hostages - was interwoven with the blue Star of David.
At Israeli prisons, some 1,966 detainees boarded buses and most were expected to be released at Gaza's Nasser Hospital on Monday, an official involved in the operation said.
In a statement on Monday, the armed wing of Hamas affirmed its commitment to the terms and timeline of the deal, contingent on Israel’s adherence. It said Israel agreed to a ceasefire and swap deal after it failed to free the hostages through its military offensive.
UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said on X that Israel had approved the delivery of more emergency supplies and the main UN aid agency working in Gaza, UNRWA, urged Israel to let it work unhindered in the territory.
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Hamas deployed fighters in Gaza on 13 October as a release of hostages seized in the 7 October attacks was under way, in an apparent show of strength by the militant group which President Donald Trump says must disarm.
U.S. President Donald Trump will receive a hero's welcome in Israel's parliament on Monday as a fragile Gaza ceasefire he helped to broker enters a fourth day, with the expected release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners marking tentative steps in a conflict long resistant to resolution.
Hamas is expected to release Israeli hostages in two stages beginning at 8 AM Monday, as Israel confirms preparations for the first exchanges under the Gaza ceasefire brokered by the U.S.
Thousands of Palestinians made their way north along Gaza’s coastline on Saturday — on foot, in cars, and on donkey carts — returning to their abandoned homes as a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas appeared to hold.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
A tsunami threat was issued in Chile after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the Drake Passage on Friday. The epicenter was located 135 miles south of Puerto Williams on the north coast of Navarino Island.
A shooting in Nice, southeastern France, left two people dead and five injured on Friday, authorities said.
U.S. President Donald Trump is set to address the Israeli Knesset in Jerusalem on Monday, hours after arriving to oversee the start of a major Gaza hostage-prisoner exchange under a U.S.-brokered ceasefire.
Hamas deployed fighters in Gaza on 13 October as a release of hostages seized in the 7 October attacks was under way, in an apparent show of strength by the militant group which President Donald Trump says must disarm.
U.S. President Donald Trump has landed in Israel for the first time since his previous term, receiving a warm welcome from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog.
Hamas is expected to release Israeli hostages in two stages beginning at 8 AM Monday, as Israel confirms preparations for the first exchanges under the Gaza ceasefire brokered by the U.S.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Washington holds greater leverage than China in the deepening trade standoff, after President Donald Trump announced 100% tariffs on Chinese imports and new export restrictions on critical software.
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