Final Hostages Released in Operation “Returning Home”

After seven-hundred and thirty eight days (two agonizing years,) all remaining hostages (living and deceased) will be returning home, a dream that so many never thought they would see. A nightmare that many families lived through is finally over. 

However – Hamas missed the noon deadline. The terror organization was supposed to return all 48 hostages alive and dead. 20 living hostages were returned and only four bodies were sent back. It is not understood whether that is because Hamas is having trouble locating them or are simply not playing by the rules. 

The final 20 living hostages were released on Monday, October 13, 2025, two years and six days after they were taken. The remaining living hostages were, Omri Miran, Gali Berman, Ziv Berman, Eitan Mor, Matan Angrest, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Alon Ohel, Avinatan Or, Evyatar David, Maxim Herkin, Rom Braslavski, Bar Kupershtein, Nimrod Cohen, David Cunio, Ariel Cunio, Matan Zangauker, Yosef Haim Ohana, Eitan Horn, and Segev Kalfon. Miraculously, all of them were well enough to stand on their own two feet. As of 10:52 AM Israel time on October 13, 2025, there are no living hostages in Gaza anymore. The celebrations in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv and across Israel have been ongoing. People told the Israel Daily News that the day brought about a feeling of pure “ecstasy.”

Trump Comes to Israel  

Simultaneously, U.S. President Donald Trump made a visit to Israel that lasted a little over four hours, longer than expected. He addressed the Knesset and received the longest standing ovation in its history. Also while in Israel, he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his Knesset office, and families of the hostages. While en route to Jerusalem and as a sign of good friendship, President Trump broke protocol and invited the Netanyahu’s to Jerusalem in his presidential car, known as The Beast. 

At the Knesset in the plenum hall, before the speech started, Netanyahu praised Trump and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana led a cheer for the prime minister, and Trump enthusiastically joined in. 

“We are in a nice place,” the president began. “The hostages are back! It feels so good to say it,” said the U.S. President during his speech. He also requested that the President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, give Netanyahu a pardon, citing his current trial and legal status. Netanyahu is “not easy to work with, and that’s what makes him great,” Trump affirmed during his speech. Netanyahu also gifted Trump a golden dove as a thank you and token of gratitude. 

During the speech, Israeli Members of Knesset’s Aymen Odeh and Ofer Cassif were escorted out after unveiling a flag with the words “GENOCIDE,” with Trump thanking the Knesset ushers for their swift and prompt action.  

During the meeting in the Prime Minister’s Knesset office, the two leaders spoke by phone with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sissi and personally invited him to the signing ceremony in Sharm El-Shiekh, a seaside city in Egypt. Netanyahu turned down the invitation citing the impending holiday of Simchat Torah, which begins as sundown Monday evening. It marks exactly two years since the onslaught of war began in the Hebrew calendar. 

As of Monday, October 13, only four deceased hostages are released, leaving the Hostages and Missing Families Forum outraged along with many others. The deceased hostages that will be released today are Guy Illouz, Yossi Sharabi, Bipin Joshi, who’s a Nepalese national, and Daniel Peretz, who’s a South African national. Bipin Joshi was a Nepalese agriculture student who had arrived in Israel just three weeks prior to his capture. He came to study. His sister has been bravely and valiantly speaking to the international audience calling for his return. 

“This is a blatant violation of the agreement by Hamas,” the forum said. “We expect the Israeli government and the mediators to act immediately to correct this terrible injustice.  “We will not give up on any hostage, and the mediators must enforce the terms of the agreement and exact a price from the terrorist organization Hamas for the violation,” they added. 

Nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners are being released in this exchange. 250 were in for life sentences due to terror offenses. No one who participated in the October 7th, 2023 attack will be included.