JERUSALEM/CAIRO/DUBAI (Reuters) – Hamas handed over all 20 surviving hostages to Israel on Monday, a major step towards ending two years of devastating war in Gaza as US President Donald Trump, who helped broker the truce, proclaimed it was “a great day”.
The Israeli military said it had received the remaining 13 hostages after a first batch of seven arrived earlier on Monday, announcements that prompted cheering, hugging and weeping among thousands waiting at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv.
“This is a great day. This is a new beginning,” Trump said after arriving to a hero’s welcome in Israel where he was addressing the Knesset before flying on to Egypt for a summit aimed at building conditions for a lasting peace in Gaza.
Asked if the two-year Gaza war was over, he said: “Yes.”
Buses carrying freed Palestinian detainees as part of the ceasefire and hostage release deal also began moving towards the Palestinian enclave from Israeli prisons, footage on Israeli television showed.
“I am so excited. I am full of happiness. It’s hard to imagine how I feel this moment. I didn’t sleep all night,” said Viki Cohen, mother of hostage Nimrod Cohen, as she travelled to Reim, an Israeli military camp where the hostages were being transferred.
