The release of the 20 living hostages begins. Seven Israelis are handed over by Hamas to the Red Cross and taken to the army.
Hamas released the first seven of its 20 surviving hostages at 8 a.m. local time. Without any publicity, they were handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross in the northern Gaza Strip: Eitan Mor, twins Gal and Siv Berman, Matan Angrest, Omri Miran, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, and Alon Ohel. They are now in Israel.
At the military base in Re'im, they will meet their closest relatives. Afterwards, the former hostages will be taken to hospitals. According to initial reports, they are able to stand on their own two feet, as reported by the Israeli broadcaster "Kan".
The remaining hostages were handed over to Red Cross personnel at another location two hours later. The convoy is taking them to the Israeli army.
The names of the other 13 freedmen: Elkana Bohbot, Bar Kuperstein, Maxim Herkin, Segev Kalfon, Eitan Horn, Ariel Cunio, David Cunio, Nimrod Cohen, Avinatan Or, Matan Zangauker, Evjatar David, Rom Braslavski, Tamir Nimrodi and the Nepalese Bipin Joschi.
Cheers for American envoys at the hostage square
Numerous Israelis have once again gathered at the hostage situation site in Tel Aviv. They are anxiously awaiting the return of the hostages.
On Saturday evening, US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner addressed tens of thousands of people at the hostage crisis zone in Tel Aviv. They were repeatedly interrupted by cheers and shouts of "Thank you, Trump." Witkoff thanked the Arab states that are party to the agreement. He praised the courage of the families and addressed the hostages directly: "Our brothers and sisters, you are coming home."
His thanks to Trump, "the greatest president the world has ever seen," were met with great applause. However, when he also thanked Netanyahu for his contribution, he was met with boos from the crowd, and he was only able to finish his sentence after several attempts. This caused bewilderment among the moderators of the Kan television channel. Criticism came from Likud, but also from Israeli opposition politician Benny Gantz (State Camp).
Thanks to Israeli soldiers
In his speech, Trump's son-in-law, Kushner, also mentioned the suffering of the people in Gaza, which was met with applause from the crowd. He expressed his pride in the Israelis for how they handled the horrific events. His thanks to the Israeli soldiers were met with applause. Kushner's wife, Ivanka Trump, expressed her hope for a lasting peace as a result of the agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Netanyahu addressed the nation in a video message broadcast Sunday evening. He referred to the many discussions and disagreements among Israelis and highlighted the military successes: "In every place where we fought, we won." He added that "great challenges still lie ahead; the war is not over." Some enemies were attempting to rearm in order to attack Israel again. He thanked the army and security forces for their service. (Israelnetz)
