All Living Hostages Are Back in Israel

After 738 days in Hamas captivity, the final 20 living hostages crossed the border from Gaza back into Israel. Images of fathers, mothers, wives, brothers, and sisters embracing their loved ones after two years of separation flooded social media.  

Bar Kupershtein, 23, cried as he embraced his mother. He was working at the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7, 2023 when Hamas launched its terrorist attack on Israel killing 1,200 and taking another 251, including Kupershtein, hostage.  

Omri Miran, 48 and the oldest living hostage to return to Israel on Monday, was taken hostage on Oct. 7 in front of his wife and two young daughters. That day, Lishay Miran told her husband she loved him as Hamas terrorist took him away. After over two years, the family was finally reunited.  

The father of Yosef-Chaim Ohana, 25, would not let his son go as they hugged for the first time in over two years.  

“Finally, our Evyatar is home,” the family of Evyatar David said in a public statement Monday. “From the first moment, we knew he would return, and here, after two years of suffering, he is here. Now a new journey of healing will begin for Evyatar and for us.”

About two months ago, Hamas released a horrifying propaganda video of a very thin David digging his own grave.

All former hostages received an initial medical evaluation before being airlifted to hospitals where they were reunited with their families.  

“After two harrowing years in darkness and captivity, 20 courageous hostages are returning to the glorious embrace of their families, and it is glorious,” President Donald Trump said before the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, Monday.  

“We have confronted evil together, we have waged war together, and perhaps most beautifully of all, we have made peace together,” Trump said, speaking of the relationship between Israel and the U.S. “And this week, against all odds, we have done the impossible and brought our hostages home. So now we’re going to forge a future that is worthy of our heritage.”

In addition to the 20 living hostages now back in Israel, the remains of 28 hostages are expected to be returned to Israel in the near future. 

“After so many years of unceasing war and endless danger, today, 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, a land, and a region that will live, God willing, in peace for all eternity,” Trump said.  

Working with mediators from Turkey, Egypt and Qatar, U.S. officials were able to get Israel and Hamas to agree to a deal Wednesday night that is based on Trump’s 20-point peace plan, which includes the release of all hostages still in Gaza and the demilitarization of Hamas. The second phase of the ceasefire is expected to include negotiations for a permanent end to the war. 

“Donald Trump is the greatest friend that the state of Israel has ever had in the White House,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said before the Knesset. 

Netanyahu has nominated Trump to receive the Israel Prize, Israel’s most prestigious award recognizing excellence in a particular field or significant contribution to Israel’s culture. Netanyahu has called for Trump to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Trump was not awarded the 2025 prize but could receive it in 2026.  

“When others were weak, you were strong. When others were fearful, you were bold. When others abandon us, you stood by our side,” Netanyahu said to Trump before the Knesset. 

Trump praised the state of Israel in his hourlong speech and pledged continued friendship between Israel and the U.S.  

“The state of Israel is strong, and it will live and thrive forever. And that is why Israel will always remain a vital ally of the United States of America,” Trump said.  

“We are going to have hope, harmony, opportunity, and happiness here in the spiritual and geographic center of the entire world,” Trump continued, adding, “Israel, America, and all of the nations of the Middle East will soon be safer, stronger, greater, and more prosperous than ever before.”  

Trump is traveling from Israel to Egypt Monday to participate in a Middle East peace ceremony.  

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