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Hamas handed over the first seven of 20 surviving Israeli hostages to Red Cross representatives in Gaza on Monday, sparking cheers of joy in Tel Aviv where a huge crowd was gathered to support hostage families.

Under a ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump after two years of war, Hamas is due to release all surviving hostages on Monday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

The releases came as Trump landed in the region for a peace summit, having declared the war “over”.

“According to information provided by the Red Cross, seven hostages have been transferred into their custody, and are on their way to IDF and ISA forces in the Gaza Strip,” the Israeli military and security service said.

“The IDF is prepared to receive additional hostages who are expected to be transferred to the Red Cross later on.”

In Tel Aviv, hundreds of people gathered on Hostages Square erupted in joy as news broke of the first releases.

A woman reacts as people celebrate at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv as news came out that Hamas has already handed over seven surviving hostages to the Red Cross on October 13, 2025. Photo / AFP, Menahem Kahana

Among them, Noga shared her pain and joy with AFP.

“I’m torn between emotion and sadness for those who won’t be coming back,” she said.

The Israeli government has confirmed the seven hostages’ names: Eitan Abraham Mor, 25, Gali Berman, 28, Ziv Berman, 28, Omri Miran, 48, Alon Ohel, 24, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, 24, and Matan Angrest, 22.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry posted to social media a message for each of the seven: “Welcome home.”

“We’ve been waiting 738 days to say this: Welcome home Alon, Eitan, Guy, Ziv, Gali, Omri, and Matan!”

Palestinian prisoners to be released

Shosh Bedrosian, a spokeswoman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, said “Palestinian prisoners will be released once Israel has confirmation that all of our hostages set to be released tomorrow are across the border into Israel”.

Two Hamas sources, meanwhile, told AFP the group was insisting Israel free seven prominent Palestinian figures as part of the exchange – at least one of whom Israel has previously refused to release.

The source said that the group and its allies had nevertheless “completed all preparations” for handing over all the living hostages to Israel.

Under the plan, Hamas is to release the remaining 47 hostages – living and dead – who were abducted on October 7, 2023, during a cross-border Hamas attack that left 1219 people dead, most of them civilians, and triggered Israel’s devastating campaign.

Hamas is also expected to hand over the remains of a soldier killed in 2014 during a previous Gaza war.

Among the Palestinian prisoners to be released, 250 are security detainees, including many convicted of killing Israelis, while about 1700 were detained by the Israeli Army in Gaza during the war.

Families of the 250 Palestinian prisoners to be released as part of the deal gathered at a popular overlook in the occupied West Bank near Ofer Prison.

East Jerusalem tour guide Jamil Jahalin told the Associated Press he was cautiously optimistic the exchange would proceed smoothly.

He pointed towards the momentum behind the deal and the visit of Trump.

Jahalin’s brother-in-law has been imprisoned for 23 years and is due for release, but his family was told by Israeli security forces that he would be deported abroad.

According to Hamas’s media office, hundreds of people have gathered outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza where nearly 2000 former Palestinian prisoners and detainees are due to arrive.

‘War is over. Okay?’

Trump landed in Israel aboard Air Force One on Monday as a first group of Israeli hostages returned home from Gaza after two years’ captivity.

The US leader was greeted on a red carpet at Ben Gurion airport by Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog.

Trump’s lightning visit to Israel and Egypt aims to celebrate his role in brokering last week’s ceasefire and hostage release deal - but comes at a precarious time as Israel and Hamas negotiate what comes next.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One at the start of the “very special” visit, Trump brushed off concerns about whether the ceasefire would endure.

“I think it’s going to hold. I think people are tired of it. It’s been centuries,” he said of the fighting.

“The war is over. Okay? You understand that?” the US president added.

In Israel, Trump is due to meet the families of hostages, before addressing the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem.

His trip is partly a victory lap over the Gaza deal he helped broker with a 20-point peace plan announced in late September.

Peace summit

After visiting Israel, Trump will head to Egypt where he and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will co-host a summit of more than 20 world leaders to back his plan to end the Gaza war and promote Middle East peace.

Trump will be looking to resolve some of the huge uncertainty around the next phases of the peace plan - including Hamas’s refusal to disarm and Israel’s failure to pledge a full withdrawal from the devastated territory.

Trump insisted he had “guarantees” from both sides and other key regional players about the initial phase of the deal, and the future stages.

Trump also said he would be “proud” to visit Gaza itself, but did not say when such a difficult security challenge would be possible.

A new governing body for devastated Gaza - which Trump himself would head under his own plan - would be established “very quickly,” he added.

Under the plan, as Israel conducts a partial withdrawal from Gaza, it will be replaced by a multi-national force coordinated by a US-led command centre in Israel.

Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed at least 67,806 people, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers credible.

The data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children.

- Agence France-Presse