Hamas releases Israeli hostages as Trump declares Gaza war 'over'
Editor's note: The story was updated with additional details
Hamas has released all of the remaining 20 living Israeli hostages as part of a peace deal in Gaza, the Israeli military confirmed on Oct. 13.
The Palestinian militant group initially handed over the first seven hostages to the Red Cross before they were escorted to Israel by the country's soldiers.
The remaining 13 hostages had been handed over to the Red Cross later in the day and subsequently to the Israeli military. Hamas also released the bodies of up to 28 captives.
Hamas has said this means all remaining captives have been freed.
The move is part of a U.S.-brokered peace deal to end the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza, which has been ongoing since October 2023.
Leaders signed the peace deal during a summit in Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt later in the day.
Speaking to journalists during his flight to Israel on Oct. 12, U.S. President Donald Trump declared that the war in Gaza had ended and the situation in the Middle East would now "normalize."
"The war is over, you understand that," Trump told journalists before arriving in Israel and later Egypt to attend the signing of the peace deal.
Israel is set to release close to 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners in return as part of the first phase of the ceasefire deal.
Ending the war in Gaza has been one of the key peace initiatives pushed by Trump since he returned to office in January.
The U.S. president has also vowed to broker a swift peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, but he later admitted ending the conflict would be more difficult than achieving peace in the Middle East.
Olena Goncharova
