Israeli hostages set for release as Trump says ‘war is over’
- Live Updates: Release of hostages in Gaza (https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-hamas-gaza-hostages-ceasefire-10-13-25) *
- Live Updates: En español: liberación de rehenes en Gaza (https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/mundo/live-news/gaza-liberacion-rehenes-israel-y-hamas-en-vivo-trax)
Live Updates
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CNN visits hospital where Israeli hostages will be released
01:11 • Source: CNN (https://www.cnn.com/)
CNN visits hospital where Israeli hostages will be released
01:11
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The 20 Israeli hostages thought to be alive in Gaza are expected to be freed within hours (https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-hamas-gaza-hostages-ceasefire-10-13-25?post-id=cmgodvqaw00003b6ncgw6bmzr) . Nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israel will also be freed as part of the first crucial phase of the US-brokered ceasefire deal.
US President Donald Trump is heading to Israel, where he is expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later today and address the country’s parliament. Trump will also meet some of the families of the hostages.
Trump will then head to Egypt, where leaders from more than 20 countries, including Emmanuel Macron of France and the UK’s Keir Starmer, will join a summit on Gaza’s future (https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-hamas-gaza-hostages-ceasefire-10-13-25#cmgodoaoo00003b6n0cpj6176).
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Omri Miran was kidnapped when Hamas gunmen broke into his family’s home in kibbutz Nahal Oz and abducted him in front of his wife, Lishay, and two young daughters, Roni and Alma.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins spoke with Miran’s brother-in-law Moshe Lavi on Sunday.
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CNN speaks with hostage’s brother-in-law about the daily ritual of two daughters awaiting their father
01:29 • Source: CNN (https://www.cnn.com/)
CNN speaks with hostage’s brother-in-law about the daily ritual of two daughters awaiting their father
01:29
With the sun about to rise in Tel Aviv, crowds have already gathered at Hostages Square, some staying through the night, in anticipation of the release of 20 living hostages in a few hours.
The plaza has been the hub of hostage demonstrations for over 700 days, and many in the crowd sat together singing songs as they watched a screen that will show the hostages’ return.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum’s health team warned that there will be a long road ahead for the hostages and their families.
“After two years under inhumane conditions of starvation, deprivation of medical care, isolation, violence, and abuse, they now need medical care, close supervision, and peace – and above all, the restoration of their identity as people, not as ‘hostages.’”
The health team said they would still face many risks, and that the released hostages health “must be placed first in every decision.”
The return of the deceased hostages for burial will allow their families “to close the circle, to mourn with dignity, and to begin the process of healing,” the families’ group said.
The Israeli government has laid out plans for how today’s release of hostages is expected to unfold.
This is not the first exchange for hostages and prisoners. In previous swaps, Hamas staged macabre ceremonies (https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/20/middleeast/hamas-israel-hostages-release-bibas-intl-hnk) before handing over people they kidnapped.
But this time around, there will be no Hamas propaganda displayed and no ‘sick displays’ by the Palestinian militant group, Shosh Bedrosian, a spokesperson for Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office, said Sunday.
Instead, the 20 living hostages held in Gaza will be released to the Red Cross ‘and transported among six to eight vehicles,’ Bedrosian said.
The hostages will be reunited with their families before being sent for treatment at three different hospitals, according to the Israeli government.
There will be a ceremony for the hostages returned dead, and an international task force will help retrieve any bodies not returned during the 72-hour window that Hamas had to release those it still held.
After the hostages have been safely transferred into Israeli territory, the agreed-upon Palestinian prisoners and detainees will be released by Israel.
Israel must free 250 Palestinian prisoners who hold life sentences, as well as 1,700 Palestinians from Gaza detained after October 7, 2023.
A spokesperson from Israel’s prison services said the inmates serving life sentences due to be released had been taken to deportation complexes in Ofer and Ketziot prisons in Israel’s south on Saturday.
According to Israel, 142 of those prisoners will be deported. The rest will return either to the occupied West Bank or East Jerusalem.
World leaders from more than 20 countries have begun making their way to Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to attend a summit on Gaza’s future.
The gathering, which is expected to include a peace signing ceremony, is being chaired by US President Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Monday.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed his arrival in Egypt in a post on X (https://x.com/Keir_Starmer/status/1977479694124749212) on Sunday, ‘to meet with international leaders to mark the first, crucial step towards peace in the Middle East.’
At the summit, the British leader is expected to set out that the UK ‘will play a leading role in the next phase of the peace plan’ and announce £20 million ($26 million) in aid for Gaza.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres touched down in Egypt early Monday.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto are also among world leaders expected to attend.
Families of hostages are on their way to Re’im (https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-hamas-gaza-ceasefire-10-13-25?post-id=cmgojik7200003b6os6eas4ow) ahead of the expected release of 20 living hostages in a few hours.
Re’im is where the hostages are expected to be received after crossing the border. Those hostages are expected to be released in three batches – two from separate locations at 8 a.m. local time (1 a.m. ET), according to a source familiar with the matter (https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-hamas-gaza-ceasefire-hostages-10-12-25#cmgo3puv0001d3d5u4nbh5gl9), and a third at another location one hour later.
US President Donald Trump is heading to Israel to meet hostage families and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He will also address the Israeli parliament, or Knesset, before heading to Egypt, where he will join leaders from more than 20 countries for a summit on Gaza.
Here’s what you should know:
- Trump confident: The US president expressed confidence that the ceasefire would hold, going so far as to tell reporters, ‘the war is over.’ (https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-hamas-gaza-ceasefire-hostages-10-12-25?post-id=cmgo5rmvu00003b6px73vse73)
- Hostages Square: Preparations are underway in Tel Aviv as anticipation builds ahead of the expected releases. Live coverage of the releases will be shown in the square.
- Palestinian prisoners: Once the hostages have crossed back into Israel, nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees set to be released will be driven into Gaza, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.
- Death toll in Gaza still rises: The death toll in Gaza since the ceasefire began has surpassed 300. Over the past three days, Gaza hospitals reported 323 people dead, 295 of whom were retrieved from under the rubble (https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-hamas-gaza-ceasefire-hostages-10-12-25?post-id=cmgoez4fk00003b6qc5p41bvj).
- ‘Real progress’ in aid: The UN said Israel had approved more aid shipments, now totalling 190,000 metric tons, in what it hopes is ‘just the beginning’ in getting crucial supplies to the enclave (https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-hamas-gaza-ceasefire-hostages-10-12-25?post-id=cmgo9l6bn00003b6pgfusn4g4).
- Aid trucks lined up: Egypt’s state-affiliated al-Qahera News reported that dozens of humanitarian aid trucks are lined up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah Border Crossing, awaiting the signal to enter Gaza.
- ‘New era’ for Israel: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday the hostage release would mark the beginning of a ‘new era’ for the country, ‘a path of healing, a path of rebuilding.’
The hostage families are on their way to Re’im to await the release of their loved ones, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
Re’im is where the hostages are expected to be received after crossing the border. The families have been told (https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Fworld%2Flive-news%2Fisrael-hamas-gaza-ceasefire-hostages-10-12-25%3Fpost-id%3Dcmgo3b02i00073b6oftx2gchk&data=05%7C02%7Cjerome.taylor%40cnn.com%7C781184803dc74a59b3af08de0a052495%7C781184803dc74a59b3af08de0a052495%7C0%7C0%7C638959214564725559%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=K0MWnhqld1NwMMlA1dMI5Rbyec1JYDX6d%2FmpxhcRMIw%3D%3D&reserved=0) that Israel expects the hostage releases to begin at 8 a.m. local time (1 a.m. ET), CNN previously reported (https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Fworld%2Flive-news%2Fisrael-hamas-gaza-ceasefire-hostages-10-12-25%3Fpost-id%3Dcmgo3puv0001d3d5u4nbh5gl9&data=05%7C02%7Cjerome.taylor%40cnn.com%7C781184803dc74a59b3af08de0a052495%7C781184803dc74a59b3af08de0a052495%7C0%7C0%7C638959214564747468%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=PGkrwClZO16a73VZeVL6bWSWz4naqYk8Xy71bZc0Gl0%3D%3D&reserved=0), citing a source familiar with the matter.
It is currently just after 6 a.m. in Israel.
The hostages held by Hamas in Gaza may be unaware of their impending release, CNN global affairs analyst Brett McGurk said Sunday.
McGurk, a former presidential adviser and Middle East envoy who helped put together a previous ceasefire plan that brought back hostages, shed some light on what the hostages may be going through.
“Probably at this hour, hostages are being met by their captors. They probably don’t know what is happening,” he told CNN’s Jessica Dean.
McGurk said that he’s holding his breath until the hostages are physically out of Gaza.
“I’m pretty confident this is going to go through as planned,” he said. “We used to actually track the vehicles in Gaza — when they get in the ICRC vehicle, tracking the vehicle all the way through Gaza until they are finally in Israel and in safe hands — and until that moment you have not succeeded.”
No Hamas propaganda will be displayed during the release of the hostages on Monday, according to Shosh Bedrosian, a spokesperson for Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office.
In previous releases, Hamas has staged macabre ceremonies (https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2025%2F02%2F20%2Fmiddleeast%2Fhamas-israel-hostages-release-bibas-intl-hnk&data=05%7C02%7CTim.Lister%40wbd.com%7C351912ec002b4a7613b708de098f474c%7C781184803dc74a59b3af08de098f474c%7C0eb48825e8714459bc72d0ecd68f1f39%7C0%7C0%7C638958708408816410%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=uf52CjZrqnexVk3IV%2BddWb1VVaA7SJ4qDitpRIPK6P8%3D%3D&reserved=0) before transferring the people it had kidnapped over to the Red Cross – both living and deceased.
This time round, the 20 hostages held in Gaza who are believed to be living will be ‘released together… to the Red Cross and transported among six to eight vehicles without any sick displays by Hamas, the terror organization,’ Bedrosian added.
In January, there were chaotic scenes (https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/30/middleeast/israel-gaza-hostage-release-chaos-intl-latam) during the protracted release of Israeli and Thai hostages in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed the release of 110 Palestinian detainees by several hours after live images were broadcast of a crowd of thousands jostling and cheering as the hostages were handed over to the Red Cross.
A total of 48 hostages are expected to be released as part of this week’s ceasefire agreement.
Of those captured on October 7, 2023, 20 are presumed alive and 25 are believed to be dead, with the status of two others uncertain.
There is one additional hostage whose body was held in Gaza before the October 7 attacks. IDF soldier Hadar Goldin was killed in 2014 and his body has been held captive since then.
The majority of those still in Gaza are Israeli citizens. Four are foreign nationals – two are from Thailand, one from Tanzania and one from Nepal.
Of the remaining foreign nationals, three are confirmed deceased, while the status of the fourth, Nepali citizen Bipin Joshi, remains unknown. The Israeli
