NEED TO KNOW
- The final 20 living Israeli hostages taken by Hamas in October 2023 were released after more than two years in captivity
- Their release is part of the first phase of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas; Hamas will also release the bodies of 28 deceased hostages that were taken
- President Donald Trump has declared that “the war is over”
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All 20 living hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have now returned to Israel after more than two years’ captivity amid the war.
On the morning of Monday, Oct. 13, the Israel Defense Forces posted photographs on Facebook showing the hostages being reunited with their loved ones after 738 days away from them.
“It’s official: There are no more living Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity,” the IDF wrote.
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Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the names of the second group of hostages released by Hamas were as follows: Elkana Bohbot, Avinatan Or, Yosef-Chaim Ohana, Evyatar David, Rom Braslavski, Segev Kalfon, Maxim Herkin, Bar Kupershtein, Eitan Horn, Ariel Cunio, David Cunio, Matan Zangauker and Nimrod Cohen, per several Facebook posts.
The first seven hostages — Eitan Mor, Gali Berman, Ziv Berman, Omri Miran, Alon Ohel, Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Matan Angrest — were released earlier on Monday morning.
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The bodies of the remaining 28 dead hostages are also expected to be handed over as part of a ceasefire agreement that has paused over two years of war, the Associated Press reported. A timeline to return the human remains is not immediately clear.
The news comes as President Donald Trump arrived in Israel on Monday, stating “the war is over” following the deal between Israel and Hamas, according to the BBC.
While speaking on board Air Force One before an appearance at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, the president said the ceasefire would hold and a “Board of Peace” would be set up for Gaza, which he claimed looked like a “demolition site,” the outlet reported.
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In exchange for the Israeli hostages’ release, the country is releasing 250 Palestinian prisoners and more than 1,700 detainees, the BBC stated.
As previously reported by PEOPLE, Trump announced on the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 8 that the two sides had agreed to a ceasefire, as well as an arrangement for Israel to withdraw troops from most of Gaza and Hamas to return all Israeli hostages, both living and dead.
“I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan,” Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time. “This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace. All Parties will be treated fairly!”
“This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!”
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Following cabinet approval, Hamas had 72 hours to release the 20 hostages and the 28 deceased, according to terms Israeli press agency TPS-IL reported on Thursday, Oct. 9.
The ceasefire comes just after the two-year anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which triggered a war in Gaza, and after several previous attempts at peace fell through.
Longstanding tensions between Israel and the Palestinian territories came to a head in October 2023 when Hamas — designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. State Department — launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing hundreds of civilians and taking at least 150 as hostages.
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In response, Israel declared war on the Gaza Strip and has since killed or injured an estimated 11% of Gaza’s population, according to NPR. The extent of the war led to allegations of genocide and a global rise in both antisemitism and Islamophobia.
After a few temporary ceasefires, Israel and Hamas agreed to a multi-phase peace agreement in January that sought to end the war. However, in March — before the plan reached its second phase, in which Israeli forces would withdraw from the Gaza Strip entirely — Israel broke the ceasefire and resumed its hostilities with new airstrikes.
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Israel and Iran also agreed to a ceasefire on June 23, following a 12-day conflict of airstrikes between the two countries.
Israel initially attacked Iran on June 13 to prevent the nation from creating nuclear weapons — despite Iran’s insistence that it was not using its nuclear program to develop bombs.
The two countries traded air strikes until June 21, when the United States entered the conflict to attack three Iranian nuclear sites. Two days later, an apparent ceasefire agreement was reached to halt fighting between Israel and Iran.