Trump declares ‘war in Gaza is over’ as hostages released
Trump declares ‘war in Gaza is over’ as hostages released
#breakingnews #israel #hamas #palestine #trump
Hamas freed the last living Israeli hostages from Gaza under a ceasefire deal and Israel sent home busloads of Palestinian detainees, as U.S. President Donald Trump told Israel’s parliament that peace had arrived in the Holy Land. Lucy Fielder has more.
Relief and joy after Hamas freed the last living Israeli hostages from Gaza on Monday under a Trump-brokered ceasefire deal. The announcement of the release of the 20 hostages prompted cheering, hugging and weeping among thousands waiting at “Hostage Square” in Tel Aviv.
There were emotional scenes in Gaza too as Israel sent home bus loads of Palestinian detainees.
Thousands of relatives, many weeping with joy, gathered at a hospital where buses brought home some of the nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees freed by Israel as part of the accord.
“But now at last, not only for Israelis, but also for Palestinians and for many others, the long and painful nightmare is finally over.”
U.S. President Donald Trump told Israel’s parliament the war was over.
He was heckled by a left-wing Knesset member holding a piece of paper reading “Recognize Palestine”, a reminder that formidable obstacles remain, even to securing an enduring ceasefire, let alone a more durable peace.
Trump departed for a summit in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh resort that’s intended to cement the truce.
And end the war prompted by the October 2023 attacks, in which Hamas killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and took 251 hostages.
Thousands of Palestinians have already returned to their homes in the Gaza Strip to find them ruined by Israeli bombardment.
Health authorities say 68,000 people were killed in a war that displaced nearly all of Gaza’s 2.2 million people.
Desperately needed aid supplies are meant to flow more smoothly into the enclave under Trump’s plan.
Another challenge will be recovering the remains of a further 26 hostages believed to have died and two whose fates are unknown.
Hamas said on Monday recovering the bodies could take time as not all burial sites are known.
It said it would hand over four bodies initially, which Israel’s defense minister called a violation of the truce.
Beyond that, crucial issues have yet to be resolved, including Israel’s full withdrawal, how to govern and police Gaza and the future of Hamas, which rejects Israel’s demands to disarm and whose masked fighters were on Monday out in force.
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