All 20 Living Israeli Hostages Freed

Israel joined the families in celebration on Monday as Hamas released the 20 remaining living hostages under the Gaza ceasefire deal brokered by US President Donald Trump, who came to Israel to mark the event.

Hamas is yet to release the remains of 28 dead hostages, despite being required to do so under the deal that would bring some closure to the national trauma that began when the terror group took 251 hostages back to Gaza after massacring some 1,200 people on October 7, 2023.

All 20 returned pale and frail, but smiling and standing on their legs, with most of them held in horrific conditions in tunnels deep under Gaza, where many faced abuse, starvation and received limited medical treatment.

Each released hostage was taken to the Re’im border facility, where they were reunited with their families in emotional scenes.

They underwent initial medical checks at Re’im to determine if any of them needed immediate, urgent treatment.

They were then flown on a military chopper to hospitals in central Israel, where they will undergo treatment and rehabilitation. Israeli Air Force chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar personally flew the helicopter transporting Cohen and his family to Sourasky Medical Center, the military said.

Footage released by the IDF showed hostages’ families to be elated and tearful as they reunited with their loved ones, as large crowds gathered in Jerusalem and on Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square cheered from afar.

Tens of thousands of people gathered in Hostages Square to celebrate the release, waving Israeli flags and singing and dancing. Thousands more lined the streets as the hostages were transported to the Re’im base, while others gathered at the three hospitals where the freed hostages were brought.

In exchange for the 20 hostages, Israel on Monday released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 250 terror convicts serving life sentences, as stipulated by Trump’s ceasefire proposal, an IDF spokesperson told The Times of Israel.

The four slain hostages slated for release were later identified by Hamas as Guy Illouz, Yossi Sharabi, Bipin Joshi and Daniel Perez. The statement did not specify when the transfer would take place.