Release date
Large crowds gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday night to demand the release of hostages in the Gaza Strip, as the second day of a US-brokered ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas ends.
An estimated 100,000 people gathered in so-called “Hostage Square” to cheer on US President Donald Trump as he secured an agreement. Some booed their country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner spoke at a weekly rally about Israel’s last hope.
“Hostages, our brothers and sisters, you are coming home,” Witkoff told the crowd.
Kushner said he would celebrate on Monday, when the Israeli military announced that 48 hostages remaining in Gaza would be freed. The government believes about 20 people are still alive. Kushner also spoke of the “suffering” in Gaza.
The US president’s daughter Ivanka Trump also addressed the crowd. “The president wanted me to know, as he has said to many of you personally, that I see you, I hear you, and I am always with you,” she said.
Israelis hugged and took selfies. Many waved American flags. “It’s a really happy time, but we know that incredibly difficult times are coming,” said Yaniv Peretz, a member of the crowd.
Yaira Gutman, whose daughter Tamar was killed in a Hamas attack during the Nova festival on October 7, 2023, said: “This is a critical moment. What we want from the members of the Knesset, the members of the government and their leaders is zero mistakes, zero accidents. It’s time to end it now and send them home.”
Hostage survivor Tal Shoham called for peace between Israelis and Palestinians after two years of devastating war.
βInstead, if we learn how to find similarities between us, we will grow closer together,β he said.
According to the agreement, the mediator and the ICRC will facilitate the exchange of hostages and prisoners without public ceremonies or media coverage.
Israel plans to release about 250 Palestinians serving prison terms, as well as about 1,700 people captured from Gaza and held without charge over the past two years.
The Israeli Prisons Authority said the prisoners had been transferred to deportation facilities in Ofer and Kuziot prisons and were “awaiting instructions from the political hierarchy.”
The October 7, 2023 Hamas attack killed approximately 1,200 people and took 250 hostages. Most of the hostages were released in previous brief cease-fire agreements throughout the two-year war.
Subsequent Israeli attacks have killed more than 67,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
The enclave was hit by famine, with around 90% of the population forced to flee and their homes destroyed by Israeli bombing.
The war has sparked other conflicts in the region, sparked global protests and led to allegations of genocide, which Israel denies.
Additional sources of information β’ AP