Hamas hands over all remaining hostages to Israel, Trump says Gaza war over

Hamas freed the last 20 surviving Israeli hostages on Monday under a US-brokered ceasefire deal, a big step towards ending two years of shattering war in Gaza as President Donald Trump proclaimed the "historic dawn of a new Middle East".

The Israeli military said it had received all hostages confirmed to be alive after their transfer from Gaza by the Red Cross, prompting cheering, hugging and weeping among thousands waiting at "Hostage Square" in Tel Aviv.

Buses carrying Palestinians released from Israeli prisons as part of the accord also arrived in Gaza, an official involved in the operation told Reuters.

"The skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still and the sun rises on a Holy Land that is finally at peace," Trump was due to tell the Knesset in a speech before flying on to Egypt for a summit aimed at building conditions for a lasting peace in Gaza.

However, major obstacles remain even to a lasting resolution of the conflict in Gaza, let alone to the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict or other major schisms running through the long-volatile Middle East.

FOLLOW-UP SUMMIT TO ADDRESS GAZA'S FUTURE

The release of hostages and the freeing of Palestinian detainees form a critical aspect of the first phase of the ceasefire accord concluded last week in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh where Monday's summit will take place.

Over 20 world leaders will weigh next steps under Trump's 20-point plan aimed at securing a lasting peace after two years of war that began with the October 7, 2023 cross-border Hamas attack that killed around 1,200 people with 251 taken hostage.

Israeli airstrikes, bombardments and armoured ground assaults have since devastated Gaza, killing more than 67,000 Palestinians, the enclave's health officials say, and laying waste to much of the enclave, causing a humanitarian disaster.

'I HAVE RETURNED, THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL LIVE,' SAYS FREED HOSTAGE

Initial photographs of six of the freed Israeli hostages distributed by the Israeli military showed them standing, some smiling and talking with soldiers who were receiving them.

As he flew from Gaza on an Israeli helicopter, released hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal wrote on a whiteboard: "I have returned - the people of Israel live", according to a photograph shown on Israeli television.

In Gaza, about a dozen masked and black-clad gunmen, apparently members of Hamas' armed wing, arrived at Nasser Hospital where a stage and chairs had been laid out to welcome returning Palestinian prisoners.

"I hope that these images can be the end to this war. We lost friends and relatives, we lost our houses and our city," said Emad Abu Joudat, 57, a Palestinian father of six from Gaza City as he watched the handover preparations on his phone.

LIKELY PITFALLS AHEAD

The Trump administration mediated the agreement along with Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, with the next phase calling for an international body - a "Board of Peace" - led by Trump.

Further steps over which previous truce efforts stumbled have yet to be agreed. Those include how the densely populated coastal territory will be governed once fighting ends, and the ultimate fate of Hamas.

The group's appearance on Monday with fighters gathered at Nasser Hospital underscored the likely difficulty of assuaging Israeli concerns about the group's continued hold over Gaza, where it has ruled since 2007.

Further sticking points may include Israel's own continued withdrawal from the Gaza Strip beyond the lines to which it pulled back in recent days, and moves towards the creation of a Palestinian state, something rejected by many Israelis.

Trump will become only the fourth US president to address the Knesset, following Jimmy Carter in 1979, Bill Clinton in 1994 and George W. Bush in 2008.

SEA OF RUBBLE

Bodies of some of the 26 confirmed dead hostages, and another two whose fate was unknown, will also be released on Monday. A committee has been established to locate some bodies likely lost in the wreckage and disorder of Gaza.

Dozens of buses carrying some of the nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees being freed from Israeli prisons as part of the deal arrived in Gaza.

Most were detainees taken by Israeli forces during the war in Gaza but the group included 250 prisoners convicted of involvement in deadly attacks or held under suspicion of such security offences.