Israeli Hostages Released – LIVE Coverage
The Israel Defense Forces: “Seven returning hostages are currently being accompanied … on their return to Israel, where they will undergo an initial medical assessment.”
After 737 days of torturous and harrowing captivity in Gaza, 48 living and dead hostages are finally returning home.
Hamas is officially no longer holding any living hostages.
— Yaakov Strasberg (@YaakovStras) October 13, 2025
The first batch of seven hostages was released on Monday morning and has been escorted out of Gaza by the IDF. “Seven returning hostages are currently being accompanied by IDF and ISA [Shin Bet security agency] forces on their return to Israel, where they will undergo an initial medical assessment,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Monday morning (2:19 Eastern time).
The remaining thirteen living hostages were released nearly two hours later, The Times of Israel reported:
Thirteen Israeli hostages released by Hamas are now in the hands of IDF troops in the Gaza Strip, the military says.
Hamas handed over the 13 — named as Elkana Bohbot, Avinatan Or, Yosef-Haim Ohana, Evyatar David, Rom Braslavski, Segev Kalfon, Nimrod Cohen, Maxim Herkin, Eitan Horn, Matan Zangauker, Bar Kupershtein, David Cunio, and Ariel Cunio — to the Red Cross in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis.
The hostages will be escorted out of the Strip by Israeli special forces to an army facility near the border community of Re’im for an initial checkup and to meet their families.
🚨 THEY’RE ALL HOME!
All 20 LIVING ISRAELI HOSTAGES ARE NOW IN ISRAEL’S HANDS! pic.twitter.com/HoQxQ77CwE
— Arsen Ostrovsky 🎗️ (@Ostrov_A) October 13, 2025
WATCH: Israeli hostage Bar Kupershtein is reunited with his family after being released by Hamas.
Follow live 🔗 https://t.co/C301Bd67jE
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/yniCqaXYvl
— Sky News (@SkyNews) October 13, 2025
Freed Hostage Matan Angrest finally back in Israel. ❤️🥹 pic.twitter.com/LYtT9kUPR8
— The Persian Jewess (@persianjewess) October 13, 2025
The hostages’ families waited at the Re’im reception center near the Gaza border in anticipation of the release. A huge crowd at Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square cheered as it followed the return of the remaining hostages.
Under the agreed terms, Hamas was not allowed to stage its hideous propaganda rallies during the hostage release.
Reuters is broadcasting live from Tel Aviv's Hostage Square, which is already filled with people ahead of the anticipated release of the remaining Israeli hostages this morning. https://t.co/s56jVCbsUi
— Avi Mayer אבי מאיר (@AviMayer) October 13, 2025
In a moving message to the members of the Israel armed forces and their families, the IDF Chief of General Staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, announced the start of Operation “Returning Home.”
“The IDF is now launching Operation “Returning Home” to return our hostages from Hamas captivity. In a few hours we will all be reunited – one people, embraced and united,” Lt. General Eyal Zamir, said Sunday night. “We will rejoice at the sight of our living hostages returning to their families and we will mourn the return of the those who were murdered, among them our heroic soldiers who fell in battle.”
President Trump arrives in Israel
With the first hostages safely home, Air Force One, carrying President Donald Trump, landed in Israel. The plane flew over the cheering crowd at the Hostage Square before landing, media reports say.
"Thank you Trump." Long applause and cheers at Hostages Square as @realDonaldTrump arrives in Israel pic.twitter.com/NP7UaPBaEU
— Israel Hayom English (@IsraelHayomEng) October 13, 2025
The Times of Israel reported:
The Ben Gurion Airport control tower welcomes US President Donald Trump, telling him his visit “carries deep meaning for our people in these times.”
“Thank you for your friendship, and for the unbreakable bond between our nations,” the tower continues, in a recording release by Netanyahu’s office. “God bless America, God bless Israel, and the friendship between our peoples.”
“Thank you very much” Trump’s pilot replies.
Welcome to Israel, @POTUS @realDonaldTrump! 🇮🇱🇺🇸
The Israeli people welcome you with so much love and so much gratitude!
Thank you for all you have done to bring our hostages home! Thank you for your commitment to building a better future of peace in our region! God bless… pic.twitter.com/T4jAUI8Qx7
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) October 13, 2025
President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu at the Knesset, meeting former hostages and families of those still captive. pic.twitter.com/Xid2tRd1Aa
— Arsen Ostrovsky 🎗️ (@Ostrov_A) October 13, 2025
Israel has made extensive arrangements amid grave concerns for the physical and mental condition of the hostages, who endured unspeakable atrocities at the hands of their Palestinian captors for two long years. “If the live hostages are stable, they will move from Red Cross custody to IDF custody, then to Camp Re’im, before being transferred [to] the three hospitals: Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Sourasky Medical Center’s Ichilov Hospital, and Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva,” the Jerusalem Post reported Monday morning. “However, if a live hostage is in immediate medical danger, a helicopter will be sent to rush them to Soroka Medical Center or to Barzilai Medical Center.”
Einav Zangauker meets her son Matan freed after 738 days pic.twitter.com/ECclbTJ0uZ
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) October 13, 2025
The hostage release comes at a painful price. Israel is releasing over 1900 so-called Palestinian ‘security prisoners,’ including hundreds of convicted terrorists serving life sentences.
“Security forces at Ofer Prison in the West Bank are preparing to release the 250 Palestinian terror convicts set to go free today as Hamas hands over the remaining hostages,” The Times of Israel reported Monday.
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Comments
You would have thought the peace now goons would be over the moon about the end of hostilities in Gaza right?
Seems they are not over the moon and instead continue to campaign in support of actual genocide instead of peace.
The left, like Hamas, has the same objective. The elimination of Isreal and the deaths of all Jews where ever they can be found.
The Irish writer, Brendan O’Neill, who writes at http://www.spiked-online.com, has laudably been one of the most staunch and unwavering supporters of Israel, since the 10/7 atrocities. In a recent essay commenting on the peace deal, he observed that all of the contemptible, useful idiot, feckless, stupid and morally obtuse European, leftist dhimmis and American Dhimmi-crats, who’ve been waxing histrionic over the past two years regarding the slanderous lie that the IDF is conducting an alleged “genocide,” in Gaza, have all become strangely silent after President Trump’s peace deal was announced. They seem disappointed that a deal has been reached, and that their theatrical performance of brazen propaganda slanders and lies against Israel is coming to an enda.
This peace deal has sucked the air out of their sails. Just means they will continue to hate Israel and Jews but from the shadows…for now.
That pause will last about a microsecond, because peace is unprofitable for the purveyors of rage.. They might spend a couple of days trying to congratulate themselves for having pressured Israel and Trump up abandon their genocide and release the “Freedom Fighters” (aka terrorists). Greta will insist on taking major credit since the resolution came so soon after her latest courageous flotilla forced the hands of the oppressors. The Left will respond to the mammoth task of rebuilding required by simply shrugging it off and blaming it all on wanton Israeli war crimes. And the colleges will quickly reconfigure to prepare their troops for the next round of Jew baiting BDS.
The left has lost one of their main rallying points and perhaps a significant part of their coalition. The left has relied upon the large numbers of Muslim immigrants in Western nations to swell their ranks and provide energy for their protests and marches. Just as importantly wealthy Arab states provided funds for all the leftwing activities.
It may well be that both the funds and protest mobs will rapidly decline. That is good for conservative and populist movements throughout the western world.
The only solution to this problem comes one or two bullets at a time.
It’s a sad day for American progressive Jews who will continue to pull the D lever. Some people never learn. Old habits must be hard to break.
Can we now have peace and quiet and civility on our campuses? Hopeful.
Doubtful. As mentioned above, do those pro pali really want peace?
They sure as hell deserve an imposed peace.
They’ll just shift to a related grievance. … It’s kind of ironic that clashes have broken out inside Gaza between Hamas and other Muslim groups. I wonder what the pro-Palistinians will make of that?
Jews fault for these clashes. Always will be.
No. Next question please.
Interesting to note that there were no females amongst the living hostages….
Yes – but then again, how much can anyone take of the abuse (rapes, beatings, starving)
can anyone take? I believe the rapes on the women were off-the-charts horrible.
I’ll never get the picture of the 2 red headed babies and their mother that they murdered
I thought all the women had been released and there were just men remaining.
Demanding and getting the remaining hostages out of Hamas is a big deal. The Trump WH is seeking to lock in a much broader regional peace deal and if they pull it off it would be a truly monumental accomplishment.
By shifting some of the responsibility, and most likely the pain as well, to others in the Middle East it makes enforcing peace more achievable. It will be very hard for the Qattaris to justify supporting Hamas if Qattaris are getting killed by Hamas in Gaza as part of a peace keeping force.
The people of Garza are all terrorists, Hamas is just the name but they all celebrated the atrocities amd in fact were part of it
Never forget
Ur maybe now. At some
Point, we will find out why it took the IDF 7 hours to respond to 10/7
They are ARABS who live in Gaza. Not a unique group – they are raised with hate and so
filled with hate, the other Arabs don’t want them – tigers don’t change their strips, leopards
don’t change their spots.
Thank God some made it through!
“Ur maybe now. At some
Point, we will find out why it took the IDF 7 hours to respond to 10/7”
We already know (except you apparently). Look it up, it’s been investigated and reported in Jpost and The Times of Israel news.
The government investigated, had hearings and testimony, etc. However, all of the usual suspects love to blame the Jews for this atrocity. I guess their skirts were too short and too tempting a target…
The question is, how long will the peace last? The 1900 terrorists released have no homes or jobs to return to: idle hands are the devil’s workshop. I predict perhaps six weeks before the next attack on Israel.
But than God (and yes, Trump) that the surviving hostages have been freed.
They can all return to their clans and continue to kill each other while the IDF looks on from afar. They were never as safe as they were in Israeli prisons. You can bet Israel will know what they have for breakfast each day, and should any of them take up arms against Israel again they will be targeted for direct action.
Maximum length of cease fire is 2 weeks in my opinion. Prior to hamas breaking it the houthis will continue to launch missiles/drones towards Israel.
Hamas will violate the Peace Agreement as soon as they get the 250 convicted Arab terrorists back from Israel as well as the other 1,250 Arab Hama supporters that were arrested and detained during the war. That’s 2,000 terrorists Israel now has to return to Gaza/Hamas now that they’ve secured the release of the hostages. And then we’ll see the usual turn of events.
• Peace Agreement/ceasefire w/Israel
• Regroup
• Rearm
• Resume violence against Israel and Israeli citizens
• When things get too hot for Hamas go to top of list and start over again
The Jihad against Israel will continue despite any Peace Agreement.