Hamas freed the final 20 surviving Israeli hostages on Monday, October 13, beneath a US-brokered ceasefire deal, a giant step in the direction of ending two years of shattering conflict in Gaza as President Donald Trump proclaimed the “historic daybreak of a brand new Center East.”
The Israeli navy mentioned it had acquired all hostages confirmed to be alive after their switch from Gaza by the Purple Cross, prompting cheering, hugging, and weeping amongst hundreds ready at “Hostage Sq.” in Tel Aviv.
Palestinian prisoners and detainees freed by Israel as a part of the accord arrived within the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Financial institution, their heads shaved and a few wanting very skinny.
“The skies are calm, the weapons are silent, the sirens are nonetheless, and the solar rises on a Holy Land that’s lastly at peace,” Trump was as a result of inform the Knesset (Israeli parliament) in a speech earlier than flying on to Egypt for a summit geared toward constructing situations for a permanent peace in Gaza.
Nonetheless, formidable obstacles stay even to a decision of the Gaza conflagration, not to mention to the broader, generations-old Israeli-Palestinian battle or different long-standing schisms working by way of the Center East.
Observe-up summit to deal with Gaza’s future
The discharge of hostages and Palestinian detainees was a pivotal side of the primary part of the Gaza accord concluded final week within the Egyptian seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, the place Monday’s summit will happen.
Over 20 world leaders will weigh subsequent steps beneath Trump’s 20-point blueprint for peace two years after the October 7, 2023 cross-border Hamas assault that killed 1,200 individuals with 251 taken hostage, the deadliest day for Jews because the Holocaust.
Israeli air strikes, bombardments and armored floor offensives have since devastated Gaza, killing greater than 67,000 Palestinians, the enclave’s well being officers say, and laying waste to a lot of the enclave, inflicting a humanitarian catastrophe.
‘I’ve returned, the individuals of Israel dwell,’ freed hostage says
Preliminary pictures of six of the freed Israeli hostages distributed by the Israeli navy confirmed them standing, some smiling and speaking with troopers who had been receiving them.
As he flew from Gaza on an Israeli helicopter, launched hostage Man Gilboa-Dalal wrote on a whiteboard: “I’ve returned – the individuals of Israel dwell”, in line with {a photograph} proven on Israeli tv.
“I’m so excited. I’m stuffed with happiness. It’s onerous to think about how I really feel this second. I didn’t sleep all night time,” mentioned Viki Cohen, mom of hostage Nimrod Cohen, as she travelled to Reim, an Israeli navy camp the place the hostages had been being transferred.
In Gaza, a couple of dozen masked and black-clad gunmen, apparently members of Hamas’ armed wing, arrived at Nasser Hospital the place a stage and chairs had been laid out to welcome returning Palestinian prisoners.
“I hope that these pictures could be the tip to this conflict. We misplaced buddies and relations, we misplaced our homes and our metropolis,” mentioned Emad Abu Joudat, 57, a Palestinian father of six from Gaza Metropolis as he watched the handover preparations on his telephone.
Possible pitfalls forward
The Trump administration mediated the settlement together with Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, with the subsequent part calling for a world physique — a “Board of Peace” — led by Trump.
Nonetheless, a lot might nonetheless go unsuitable: Additional steps over which earlier truce efforts stumbled have but to be agreed. These embrace how the densely populated coastal territory can be ruled as soon as combating ends, and the final word destiny of Hamas.
Hamas’ look on Monday with fighters gathered at Nasser Hospital underscored the seemingly problem of alleviating Israeli considerations concerning the Islamist militant group’s continued maintain over Gaza, the place it has dominated since 2007.
Hamas gunmen killed 32 members of what it referred to as a “gang” in Gaza Metropolis throughout a safety crackdown launched after Israeli forces pulled again beneath the ceasefire, a Palestinian safety supply mentioned on Monday.
As he entered the Knesset, Trump mentioned Hamas would adjust to a provision beneath his plan for it to disarm, though the group has dominated this out earlier than Palestinians obtain statehood.
Additional sticking factors could embrace Israel’s personal continued withdrawal from the Gaza Strip past the traces to which it pulled again in latest days, and strikes in the direction of the creation of a Palestinian state, an end result rejected by many Israelis.
Trump is just the fourth US president to deal with the Knesset, following Jimmy Carter in 1979, Invoice Clinton in 1994 and George W. Bush in 2008 and was greeted with an almost unanimous standing ovation. Knesset speaker Amir Ohana mentioned Israel would nominate Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize.
Sea of rubble
Our bodies of a few of the 26 confirmed lifeless hostages, and one other two whose destiny was unknown, may even be launched on Monday. A committee has been established to find some our bodies seemingly misplaced within the wreckage and dysfunction of Gaza.
Dozens of buses carrying a few of the practically 2,000 Palestinian detainees being free of Israeli prisons as a part of the deal arrived in Gaza.
Most had been detainees taken by Israeli forces through the conflict in Gaza however the group included 250 prisoners convicted of involvement in lethal assaults or held beneath suspicion of such safety offences.
Two years of conflict have diminished Gaza to a sea of rubble, with practically all its 2.2 million individuals homeless. It has additionally reshaped the Center East by way of spillover Israeli conflicts with Iran, Lebanon’s Tehran-backed Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis.
UN help chief Tom Fletcher mentioned on X that Israel had authorised the supply of extra emergency provides and the primary UN help company working in Gaza, UNRWA, urged Israel to let it work unhindered within the territory. – Rappler.com
