Tears, triumph and Trump

Israel said the last 20 surviving hostages returned home on Monday after two years in captivity in Gaza, as US President Donald Trump received a standing ovation from Israeli lawmakers after brokering a ceasefire with Hamas.

Trump’s lightning visit to Israel came ahead of a summit in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh co-chaired by the American president, who has declared the war in Gaza “over.”

In Tel Aviv, a huge crowd which gathered to support hostage families erupted in joy, tears and song as news broke of the first hostage releases, though the pain for the loss of those who had not survived was palpable.

Under the ceasefire deal, Israel is due to release nearly 2,000 prisoners held in its jails.

In the Palestinian city of Ramallah, huge crowds gathered to welcome home the first buses carrying prisoners, with some chanting “Allahu akbar,” or God is the greatest, in celebration.

“Welcome home,” Israel’s foreign ministry said in a series of posts on X, hailing the return of the hostages.

On Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, Noga shared her pain and joy.

“I’m torn between emotion and sadness for those who won’t be coming back,” she said.

Israel has said it does not expect all of the dead hostages to be returned on Monday.

Under the ceasefire agreement, Hamas is also due to return the bodies of the 27 hostages who died or were killed in captivity, as well as the remains of a soldier killed in 2014 during a previous Gaza conflict.

Among those Israel was due to release in exchange are 250 security detainees, including many convicted of killing Israelis, while about 1,700 were detained by the Israeli army in Gaza during the war.

‘Nothing looked the same’

On 7 October 2023, militants seized 251 hostages during Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel, which led to the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians.

All but 47 of those hostages were freed in earlier truces, with the families of those who have remained in captivity leading lives of constant pain and worry for their loved ones.

In Gaza, too, the ceasefire has brought relief, but with much of the territory flattened by war, the road to recovery remains long.

“I returned to Sheikh Radwan with my heart trembling,” 38-year-old Fatima Salem told AFP after she returned to her neighborhood in Gaza City.

“My eyes kept searching for landmarks I had lost — nothing looked the same, even the neighbors’ houses were gone.

“Despite the exhaustion and fear, I felt like I was coming back to my safe place. I missed the smell of my home, even if it’s now just rubble. We will pitch a tent next to it and wait for reconstruction.”

‘War is over. Okay?’

Trump’s visit to the Middle East aims to celebrate his role in brokering last week’s ceasefire and hostage release deal — but comes at a precarious time as Israel and Hamas negotiate what comes next.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One at the start of the “very special” visit, Trump brushed off concerns about whether the ceasefire would endure.

“I think it’s going to hold. I think people are tired of it. It’s been centuries,” he said of the fighting.

“The war is over. Okay? You understand that?” the US president added.

In Israel, Trump was due to meet the families of hostages, before addressing the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem.

Final details

Trump announced in late September a 20-point plan for Gaza, which helped bring about the ceasefire.

Negotiators were still wrangling late Sunday over the final arrangements for the exchanges, with two Hamas sources telling AFP the group was insisting that Israel include seven senior Palestinian leaders on the list of those to be released.

Israel has previously rejected at least one of those names.

After visiting Israel, Trump will head to Egypt, where he and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will co-host a summit of world leaders to back his plan to end the Gaza war and promote Middle East peace.

While Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas is due at the summit, Netanyahu’s office said the Israeli premier will not attend due to the start of a religious holiday.

In Egypt, Trump will be looking to resolve some of the huge uncertainty around the next phases of the peace plan — including Hamas’ refusal to disarm and Israel’s failure to pledge a full withdrawal from the devastated territory.

Trump insisted he had “guarantees” from both sides and other key regional players about the initial phase of the deal, and the future stages.

A new governing body for devastated Gaza — which Trump himself would head under his own plan — would be established “very quickly,” he added.

Under the plan, as Israel conducts a partial withdrawal from Gaza, it will be replaced by a multi-national force coordinated by a US-led command center in Israel.

Hamas on Monday urged Trump and the mediators of the Gaza deal to ensure Israel does not resume operations in Gaza.

“We call on all mediators and international parties to continue monitoring Israel’s conduct and to ensure it does not resume its aggression against our people in Gaza,” Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said.

Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed at least 67,869 people, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers credible.

The data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children.