Hamas frees last living hostages to Israel as Trump calls for peace

Palestinian prisoners, detainees freed under ceasefire also arrive in Gaza, West Bank

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Hamas freed the last living Israeli hostages on Oct 13 under a ceasefire deal, a big step towards ending two years of ruinous war in Gaza as US President Donald Trump addressed Israel's Parliament, urging it to turn military success into peace.

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 Hostages Square in Tel Aviv.

Some of the nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees freed by Israel as part of the accord, ahead of a summit in Egypt to cement the ceasefire, began arriving in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, with a few hoisted on the shoulders of delighted relatives.

“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,” Mr Trump told the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, saying a “long nightmare” for both Israelis and Palestinians was over.

“Now it is time to translate these victories against terrorists on the battlefield into the ultimate prize of peace and prosperity for the entire Middle East,” he said, before his planned trip to Egypt for the summit.

However, formidable obstacles remain in reaching a resolution over the Gaza conflagration, let alone one to the wider, generations-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict or other longstanding schisms running through the Middle East.

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 the summit on Oct 13 took place.

More than 20 world leaders weighed next steps under Mr Trump's 20-point plan aimed at securing a lasting peace after two years of war that began with the Oct 7, 2023 cross-border Hamas attack that killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.