News Digest — 10/13/25
After 738 Days: All Living Hostages Return Home To Israel
At around 8 a.m., Monday (13th), the Red Cross confirmed the hostage deal had begun, and that at 8:05 a.m., seven Israeli hostages had been transferred to the Red Cross, with all walking independently and in ‘okay’ condition.
The seven hostages in the first group were: Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Eitan Mor, Gali and Ziv Berman, Alon Ohel, Matan Argest, and Omri Miran.
At 8:25 am, US President Donald Trump was seen watching the hostage release live on Air Force 1.
At 9 am, the IDF and ISA received the seven newly released hostages from the Red Cross and Channel 12 reported that the hostages’ families spoke to them on the phone.
At 9:15 am, the IDF and ISA announced that the seven released hostages “are now in Israeli territory, and are on their way to the initial reception point in southern Israel, to reunite with their families..”
At 9:59 am, the IDF announced: “According to information received, the Red Cross is on its way to an additional meeting point in the southern Gaza Strip, where several other hostages will be handed over to the Red Cross.”
At 10:34 am, the Red Cross received the second group of released hostages.
At 10:51 am, the 13 remaining hostages were handed over to the Red Cross. Hamas is still holding the bodies of 28 deceased hostages.
According to the terms of the agreement between Israel and Hamas, the terrorist group is expected to return 28 bodies. Israeli officials estimate that only about half will be transferred on Monday (13th).
With the living hostages freed, the Red Cross will now enter Gaza to collect the remains of those who died in captivity.
Upon their release, the 20 living hostages underwent an initial debriefing with Israeli officials and professionals experienced in handling such cases, These encounters took place immediately upon exiting Gaza.
Family reunions were held at the Re’im military base, which has been significantly expanded to accommodate this large-scale operation. Each hostage underwent a medical evaluation at the site.
Afterward, the survivors were airlifted by Air Force helicopters to hospitals for further care: ten to Sheba Hospital in Tel Hashomer, five to Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, and five to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva.
Trump In Israel For Speech At Knesset: ‘The War In Gaza Is Over’
US President Donald Trump departed for Israel on Sunday night (12th), with a schedule to speak at the Knesset later on Monday (13th).
“This is going to be a very special time… Everybody’s cheering at one time. That never happened before… It’s an honor to be involved, and we’re going to have an amazing time,” Trump said ahead of his trip.
Trump’s arrival in Israel will be at the same time that the hostage release operation is scheduled to begin, with the US president having a key role in the negotiations to achieve the deal.
“War is over,” Reuters reported that Trump said when asked about the situation in Gaza. “Ceasefire is going to hold, Gaza is like a demolition site.”
Trump also answered Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana’s letter of invitation to speak at Israel’s main legislative body during his visit to the country.
“Thank you for your historic invitation to address the nation of Israel before your esteemed legislative body. I am honored to accept,” the letter stated.
Trump then addressed the Abraham Accords, which he described as “the foundation of stability in a region marked by centuries of conflict.”
“We have built upon that incredible achievement since I returned to the White House earlier this year and are proving that nations across the globe can move beyond longstanding challenges of the past.”
He also wrote, “This week, we marked two years since the abhorrent attack of October 7, 2023. We have worked tirelessly since that horrific day to return all hostages to their homes, defend the sovereignty of Israel, and end the violence that has tragically plagued one of the most cherished areas of the world for far too long.”
“Now, we stand on the doorstep of one of the greatest diplomatic achievements in history, and we cannot rest until peace is fully realized and sustained. Together, we will forge a future of security, prosperity, and peace in Israel, the region, and beyond, and blessed are the peacemakers!”
Netanyahu: ‘Tomorrow The Hostages Will Return Home, This Is A Historic Time’
“Citizens of Israel, my brothers and sisters, this is an emotional evening (Sunday, 12th), an evening of tears, an evening of joy. Because tomorrow, (Monday, 13th), children will return to their border. This is a historic event that blends sorrow over the release of murderers – and joy over the return of hostages. This is a historic event that some did not believe would happen. But our fighters believed. Many among the people believed. And I believed.”
“I know there are many disagreements among us. But on this day, and I hope also in the period ahead, we have every reason to put them aside. Because through joint efforts we achieved enormous victories, victories that astonished the entire world. And I want to say: Everywhere we fought – we won.”
“But in the same breath, I must tell you: The campaign is not over. There are still very great security challenges ahead of us. Some of our enemies are trying to rebuild themselves to attack us again. And as we say – ‘We’re on it.’”
“There are also great opportunities that we have never known before – precisely because of the victories we brought. I am convinced that through joint efforts we will overcome the challenges and realize the opportunities.”
“During the war, my wife and I met many times with the families of the abductees. We saw their pain, their yearning, their tears. These meetings were with me in every decision I made during the war. We embraced the families, and I promised them: ‘I will not rest until; I bring your loved ones back.’”
“I wish to thank the IDF soldiers and commanders, the security forces, the bereaved families who lost what was most dear to them, our heroic wounded who carry their pain in body and soul, and I wish to thank you, citizens of Israel. You who stood strong day after day, with love for our country and faith in the justice of our path.”
Tomorrow (Monday, 13th) is the beginning of a new path. A path of building, a path of healing, and I hope – a path of uniting hearts. Together we will continue to strengthen our country. Together we will continue to win, and with God’s help, together we will ensure the eternity of Israel.”
IDF Chief Zamir: ‘We Will Ensure Gaza Will Not Constitute A Threat To Israel’
IDF Chief of Staff LTG. Eyal Zamir on Sunday night (12th), promised that the military would ensure that “the Gaza Strip will not constitute a threat again to the State of Israel.”
“The military pressure we have exerted over the past two years, together with the complementary political move, constitutes a victory over Hamas,” Zamir said.
Zamir also promised that the military would ensure that “the Gaza Strip will not constitute a threat again to the State of Israel.”
Zamir said that anytime Hamas raises its head, the IDF will be there to prevent it from reestablishing itself as a threat to the Jewish state.
He said that the “IDF’s actions would speak for themselves.”
The IDF chief said nothing directly about disarming Hamas, focusing instead on returning the Israeli hostages from the captivity of Hamas, on the IDF’s partial withdrawal from Gaza, and on the general presumption that the military had learned lessons from October 7, 2023, in order to keep Israel safe from Hamas in the future.
Earlier Sunday (12th), Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a bizarre statement saying that the disarmament of Hamas would come through a vague process carried out by either Israel or an international peacekeeping force, with the manifestation of disarmament being reflected by eliminating Hamas’ tunnels.
Other top defense sources suggested that the two goals were not contradictory, but also did not explain whether destroying tunnels would be sufficient as compared to the goal of truly disarming Hamas.
During the 2014 Israel-Hamas conflict, initial statements by top Israeli officials also talked about dealing Hamas a much greater blow. Eventually, they evolved into having a goal of destroying Hamas’ attack tunnels and main strategic tunnels in areas of Gaza where IDF troops had entered.
Peace Won’t Last Until Palestinians Accept That Israel Is Here To Stay – Henry Donovan
Two years on from Hamas’ massacre and with Gaza lying in ruins, the West still refuses to look the real problem in the eye. The obstacle to lasting peace between Israel and Gaza is a widespread conviction in the West Bank and Gaza (and on university campuses and on London streets) that Israel is a mistake to be undone. Until that idea dies, no ceasefire and no “two-state solution” will hold.
The belief that Israel should someday cease to exist – still widespread among Palestinians and their sympathizers abroad – is at the heart of the conflict. Hamas is merely the current, most violent, manifestation of this idea. As long as the fantasy endures – in classrooms, refugee camps, and UN speeches – every truce is an intermission, not a peace. Believing that Gaza can be “rehabilitated,” while its people are taught that their neighbor must disappear, is for the birds.
Israel’s demand is simple, to live without annihilation as a daily threat. The corresponding Palestinian demand is the reverse — to erase the Jewish state “from the river to the sea.” The lives of millions of Palestinians have been ruined by this obsession.
After 1945, millions of ethnic Germans were violently expelled from lands they had lived in for centuries: East Prussia, the Sudetenland, Silesia. The expellees built new lives in new homes and moved on. No international agency taught their grandchildren to dream of Breslau or Konigsberg. No politicians promised that someday the borders would be reversed. Out of that acceptance grew the stability on which modern Europe rests. The Middle East will find no peace until it learns the same lesson.
Peace will come when Palestinian leaders, educators and activists have the courage to tell their own people what European leaders once told millions of their displaced: that history does not run in reverse and that compromise is the price of peace: Until then, every slogan about “resistance” is a declaration of permanent war. (Telegraph-UK)
What 491 Days As A Hostage Taught Me About Hamas – Eli Sharabi
• On October 7, 2023, terrorists broke into my home in Kibbutz Beeri. My wife, Lianne, our daughters Noiya and Yahel and I hid in our safe room as the gunmen burned and murdered their way through the kibbutz. After they took me, I was bound and dragged into Gaza, where an ecstatic civilian mob – men, women and children – tried to rip me limb from limb. I did not know my wife and daughters had already been murdered.
• My first days as a hostage were spent in the basement of a well-off Gaza family’s home. The father, who had worked in construction in Israel, spoke fluent English and even some Hebrew. Life upstairs was normal for the family while I lay below, my shoulders in wrenching pain from the tight ropes that bound me.
• I can speak Arabic and could understand perfectly well when the terrorists discussed their ideology. The murderers who broke into my house and slaughtered my wife and daughters were driven by blind hatred, which seemed to take precedence over all other motivations.
• On day 52 of my captivity I was moved into a tunnel with other Israeli hostages where conditions rapidly deteriorated. Food deprivation and disease were routine. The stench of sewage was unbearable, and there were worms everywhere.
• Our captors also became more cruel. They replayed the October 7th footage. Watching the murder and the torture seemed to invigorate them. Our legs were constantly shackled and we were regularly beaten and humiliated.
• It’s important for the world to know that lasting peace can only come if the murderous ideology that we witnessed in Hamas, and all those associated with them, is defeated. Real change will require the wholesale rejection of a culture that fetishizes death.
