Remaining Living Hostages Return to Israel Alongside Palestinian Prisoner Release

The living Israeli hostages held in Gaza have been freed under the first phase of President Donald Trump’s peace plan to end the Israel-Hamas war. As part of the deal, Israel released 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and an additional 1,700 Gazans detained after Oct. 7, 2023. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed just before midday local time that 20 living hostages had all been handed over to Israeli authorities at a meeting point on the northern border of Gaza. The remains of 28 others are believed to still be in Gaza. The coordinated operation, dubbed Operation Returning Home, began early Monday when the first group of seven hostages was transferred to IDF and Shin Bet custody around 9:20 a.m. local time (2:20 a.m. ET), followed by the remaining 13 several hours later. Hostages were reunited with their families, including 48-year-old Omri Miran, who was pictured embracing his wife and father. Other photos and video shared by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum show released hostages video-calling loved ones whilst they continue medical checks.  “Dad Omri is home. After more than 700 long, painful, and agonizing days, Omri will finally receive from Roni and Alma [Miran’s daughters] a healing embrace,” the family of Omri said in a statement upon his release. “This moment, today, is not a personal victory but a victory of an entire people.” Miran spent 738 in captivity after being abducted on Oct. 7, 2023, from his home in the Kibbutz of Nahal Oz, where he owns a therapy studio and worked in construction. A number of those released on Monday were then airlifted to hospital nearby for further checks after each hostage was given an initial medical examination. Those taken to hospital have already met some family members and “will reunite with the rest of their family members and receive continued medical care,” per the IDF. Thousands of Israelis gathered in Hostages Square, Tel Aviv, on Monday to celebrate the release of the remaining living hostages. As a helicopter carrying hostages to the Ichilov hospital flew overhead, crowds cheered, applauded and waved flags. As well as the release of the hostages, The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has also facilitated the release of almost 2,000 Palestinians on Monday to both Gaza and the West Bank. Per the first phase of the peace deal agreed by both Hamas and Israel, 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences are set to be released, alongside around 1,700 detained from Gaza since the start of the war over two years ago.  Buses carrying prisoners arrived in Ramallah in the West Bank, as well as at least one bus that entered Gaza, The Associated Press has reported. Two buses arrived in Ramallah at around 1:30 p.m. local time, with family members of detainees in tears as they embraced those now released, as others were lifted on shoulders as celebrations began. Many of the prisoners appeared to be injured and in a poor state of health, the BBC has reported from the West Bank. Despite the jubilation from both Israelis and Palestinians, concern has grown in response to the number of deceased hostages set to be released later on Monday.  “The hostage families were shocked and dismayed to learn that only 4 deceased hostages will be returned today, out of 28 held by Hamas,” said The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, calling it a “blatant breach of the agreement by Hamas.” “We expect Israel’s government and the mediators to take immediate action to rectify this grave injustice…We will not abandon any hostage. The mediators must enforce the agreement’s terms and ensure Hamas pays a price for this violation,” the Forum continued in a statement. TIME has reached out to the IDF for comment. Monday’s release of hostages and prisoners comes as Trump spoke at the Knesset, the center of Israeli government, alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Yair Lapid. Trump was greeted with widespread applause as he approached the podium, before giving a speech in which he talked about the release of Israeli hostages and numerous other aspects of his second term in office.  “20 courageous hostages are returning to the glorious embrace of their families,” said Trump in Jerusalem, to further applause. “The hostages are back. Isn’t that nice to say? I just said for the first time I said the hostages are back. It sounds, it feels so good to say it.” The President was also interrupted during his address by two members of the Knesset, who were quickly removed from the room.  Politician Aymen Odeh started the protest, holding up a sign that read: “Recognize Palestine.” “I was kicked out of the Knesset for raising the simplest demand, one [that] the whole international community agrees on: Recognize the State of Palestine,” Odeh said in a video published after the incident. “There are two peoples here, and no one is going anywhere.” A number of western countries have recently recognized a Palestinian state, with both Trump and Netanyahu denouncing the move. Over 150 countries now recognise Palestinian statehood.   Speaking before Trump, Netanyahu thanked the President, adding that the war with Hamas had come to an end and ensured “the disarming of Hamas, the demilitarization of Gaza, and that Gaza would never again pose a threat to Israel.” “Mr. President, thanks to your unequivocal backing of Israel, we secured a second hostage deal within weeks of your election, and in the months that followed, we worked closely together to forge a path to bring the remaining hostages home and end the war,” said Netanyahu. In Gaza, thousands of Palestinians continue to return to the north of the territory which had seen an intensified Israeli military operation in recent months. Some 500,000 Palestinians are estimated to have returned to Gaza City since the first phase of the cease-fire was announced last week.  Hamas also announced Monday that a slight increase of humanitarian aid entered Gaza the previous day. 173 trucks, including 6 carrying fuel, crossed the border into the enclave. Around an average of 100 U.N. trucks were entering Gaza in September, although this amount fluctuated daily.  “We note that the quantities that entered remain extremely limited — merely a drop in the ocean of urgent needs — and they do not meet even the minimum humanitarian and living requirements of more than 2.4 million people in the Gaza Strip,” the Government Media Office in Gaza said.  The United Nations said on Sunday that the slight increase in aid entering Gaza was “just the beginning.” “As part of our plan for the first 60 days of the ceasefire, the UN and our partners will expand the scale and scope of our operations to deliver life-saving aid and services to virtually everyone across Gaza, the U.N. said Sunday.