Israelis celebrated Monday as word spread that the 20 living Israeli hostages had been released by Hamas to the Red Cross, and as U.S. President Donald Trump touched down in Israel ahead of his speech to the Knesset.
“Trump arrives as a victor, and righteously so,” observed an analyst on Israel’s Army Radio.
In keeping with the agreement Trump announced in the White House exactly two weeks before, Israel released 250 Palestinian terror convicts and loaded them onto buses, awaiting the Israeli hostages’ return.
Israelis react as they watch the release of Israeli hostages by Hamas during a live broadcast in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. Hamas freed seven living Israeli hostages from the Gaza Strip on Monday morning, following a US-led deal reached late last week.(Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg via Getty)
Joy abounds in Israel as Hamas freed seven living Israeli hostages from the Gaza Strip on Monday morning, following a US-led deal reached late last week. (Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg via Getty)
In Gaza, the 20 hostages were freed in three separate groups and handed over to the Red Cross, then to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The first seven arrived in Israel; several were able to call ahead to their families.
President Trump watched the releases from Air Force Once, as the control tower at Ben Gurion International Airport thanked him and the United States.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog greeted him on the tarmac before driving together to Jerusalem — as hostage releases unfolded.
President Donald Trump speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they sit together in a car after a welcoming ceremony at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Israelis gathered at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, with many performing the celebratory rituals of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. Tradition holds that wishes come true on the sixth day of the holiday, which falls Monday.
In the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, people were given red “Make America Great Again” hats that read “Trump the Peace President,” according to the Times of Israel.
It was, already, one of the happiest days in Israel’s history.
“After two years, there are no Israeli hostages in Gaza,” Army Radio announced as the last of the 20 living hostages crossed the country’s border, with Israelis singing, dancing, crying, and waiting to hear Trump.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Zionist Conspiracy Wants You, now available on Amazon. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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