The Israeli military says 20 living hostages have been released by Hamas and have returned to Israel. Until Monday, 48 hostages were still being held in Gaza, although some are believed to be dead.
All but one of the hostages were among the 251 people abducted during the Palestinian group’s attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, during which about 1,200 other people were killed.
President Donald J. Trump delivers remarks to Israel's Knesset in Jerusalem.
"After two harrowing years in darkness & captivity, 20 courageous hostages are returning to the glorious embrace of their families… Today, the sun rises on a Holy Land that is finally at PEACE." pic.twitter.com/edHG5ndSM5
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 13, 2025
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‘Long and painful nightmare finally over,’ Trump tells Israel’s parliament
US President Donald Trump has told cheering Israeli lawmakers that “the long and painful nightmare is finally over”, after helping to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
During the first such address by a US president since 2008, Trump said the day would mark “the moment that everything began to change, and change very much for the better” in the Middle East.
Trump’s address to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, comes on the day that the last 20 living hostages held in the Palestinian enclave were released by Hamas.
