In a moment that may come to define the modern Middle East, all 20 remaining living hostages held in Gaza were freed on Monday, marking the end of two years of relentless war between Israel and Hamas. The release coincided with the arrival of U.S. President Donald Trump in Israel, where he declared to the world, \u201cThe war is over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The deal, brokered by Trump\u2019s administration after months of quiet negotiations, included a sweeping ceasefire and the exchange of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners for the remaining Israeli captives. It was the culmination of a painstaking diplomatic campaign that began early in Trump\u2019s second term, when he vowed to \u201cend the endless wars\u201d and bring \u201ca permanent peace to the Holy Land.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ceasefire, described by Trump as \u201cthe historic dawn of a new Middle East,\u201d was greeted with jubilation and tears in Israel. In Tel Aviv\u2019s Hostages Square, thousands of families who had spent two years demanding the return of their loved ones erupted in cheers as news broke that the captives were safe. Israeli television aired footage of the freed men crossing back into Israel under the escort of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), where they were reunited with their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe gather on a day of profound joy, of soaring hope, of renewed faith,\u201d Trump said in his address to Israel\u2019s parliament, the Knesset. \u201cThe skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still. The sun rises on a holy land that is finally at peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under the terms of the Trump-brokered ceasefire, Israel agreed to release more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners, including 250 serving life sentences for attacks on Israelis. The exchange took place in Beitunia, near Ramallah, where cheering crowds waved flags and welcomed buses carrying the released prisoners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Gaza, the Hamas-run Prisoners Office confirmed that several detainees held since the 2023 war were also being released as part of the deal. Meanwhile, the bodies of 28 hostages who had died in captivity will be returned to Israel over the coming days, including four individuals identified as Guy Iluz, Bipin Joshi, Daniel Peretz, and Yossi Sharabi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump praised the agreement as \u201ca triumph of diplomacy, courage, and faith,\u201d saying that \u201cafter so many years of unceasing war and endless danger, this land can now live in peace for all eternity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing the Knesset shortly after Trump, hailed the day as \u201cmomentous.\u201d \u201cAt the beginning of the war, I promised to bring all the hostages home,\u201d he said. \u201cToday, with the indispensable help and unremitting efforts of President Trump, we have fulfilled that promise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists launched a surprise assault on southern Israel, killing 1,200 people\u2014mostly civilians\u2014and taking 251 hostages. Israel\u2019s military response devastated Gaza, leading to more than 67,000 Palestinian deaths according to Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry, and displacing nearly 90 percent of the enclave\u2019s two million residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The scale of destruction drew global condemnation and deepened Israel\u2019s diplomatic isolation. As the humanitarian toll mounted, Trump\u2019s administration stepped in to mediate, using both U.S. leverage and regional influence to bring the sides to the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The turning point reportedly came during backchannel talks in Cairo and Doha earlier this year, when Trump\u2019s special envoy Steve Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and senior adviser Jared Kushner negotiated the framework for the ceasefire. Kushner, who had previously helped forge the Abraham Accords, was instrumental in bringing Egypt, Qatar, and Jordan on board to support the plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the freed hostages returned, scenes of emotion filled Israel. The IDF released photos of reunions, including 28-year-old twins Gali and Ziv Berman embracing after being held apart by Hamas for nearly two years. \u201cIt is the miracle we prayed for,\u201d said one family member at Ichilov Medical Center, where the hostages underwent medical evaluations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump, who met with several of the freed families, said their suffering had been \u201cunbelievable\u201d and that he had prayed for their release from the beginning. \u201cWhat you\u2019ve done is a miracle,\u201d he told Israelis. \u201cLook at your size, look at your chances when it all started. You are safer today, stronger today, and more respected today than at any time in the history of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s address to the Knesset was met with prolonged applause and chants of \u201cTrump! Trump!\u201d from lawmakers and spectators. Some in the audience wore red caps emblazoned with \u201cTrump, The Peace President.\u201d The session was briefly interrupted by a protester, whom Trump dismissed with humor, saying, \u201cThat was very efficient.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana praised Trump as \u201ca giant of Jewish history,\u201d and announced that Israel would nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize. President Isaac Herzog later confirmed that Trump would receive Israel\u2019s Presidential Medal of Honor, the nation\u2019s highest civilian award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his speech, Trump thanked Netanyahu for his \u201cexceptional courage and patriotism,\u201d adding, \u201cYou\u2019ve won. Now it is time to translate these victories on the battlefield into the ultimate prize of peace and prosperity for the entire Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The peace deal outlines a multi-phase plan for Gaza\u2019s future governance. An international body will temporarily administer the territory, while an Arab-led security force trained by Egypt and Jordan maintains order. The plan calls for eventual Palestinian self-governance through reformed leadership within the Palestinian Authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump emphasized that the agreement was not simply about ending one war but about transforming the entire region. \u201cThis is not only the end of a war,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is the end of an age of terror and death and the beginning of the age of faith and hope and of God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also made overtures toward Iran, declaring, \u201cThe hand of friendship and cooperation is always open. We merely want to live in peace.\u201d While Iran declined to attend the upcoming peace summit, Trump said he believed Tehran was \u201ctired\u201d and ready for change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following his Knesset address, Trump departed for Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to oversee the signing of the ceasefire agreement and lead a summit of more than twenty nations on the region\u2019s future. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi will co-host the meeting, which includes Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and leaders from across the Arab world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Netanyahu, citing the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret, declined to attend but voiced his support for the process. \u201cWe are beginning a new chapter,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cAnd it would not have been possible without President Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Trump, the moment marked both a political and moral victory. Having been derided by critics as a provocateur, he now stood as the architect of a ceasefire that ended one of the bloodiest conflicts of the century. As he told Israeli lawmakers, \u201cThis will be remembered as the moment when everything began to change\u2014and change very much for the better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the people of Israel and Gaza, the hope is that this time, the peace will last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NP Editor: <\/strong> This is an historic day certainly, but I don’t trust Hamas, and it may have been a bad idea releasing 1900 terrorist back into the wild. But hope abounds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Historic Turning Point In a moment that may come to define the modern Middle East, all 20 remaining living hostages held in Gaza were freed on Monday, marking the end of two years of relentless war between Israel and Hamas. The release coincided with the arrival of U.S. President Donald Trump in Israel, where he declared to the world, \u201cThe war is over.\u201d The deal, brokered by Trump\u2019s administration after months of quiet negotiations, included a sweeping ceasefire and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,38,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","category-middle-east","category-trump"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hostageasdfaesa.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6602"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6604,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6602\/revisions\/6604"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}