by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News October 13, 2025
Hamas on Monday returned all 20 remaining living Israeli hostages as President Donald Trump arrived in the Mideast to address the Israeli Parliament.
“We gather on a day of profound joy, of soaring hope,” he said, later adding that international pressure had played a part in bringing about the cease-fire.
“Israel has won all that can be won by force of arms” and “it is time to translate these victories against terrorists on the battlefield into the ultimate prize of peace and prosperity,” the U.S. president said.
Trump later flew to Egypt where he signed a document recognizing the cease-fire and hostage-release deal between Israel and Hamas during a summit in Sharm El Sheikh.
The leaders of Egypt, Turkey and Qatar, sitting alongside Trump, also signed the document. All four countries served as mediators between Israel and Hamas.
Absent from the signing were representatives of Israel and Hamas. Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, wasn’t invited to the summit, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined the invitation.
“Later phases of the plan will address more difficult issues such as Gaza’s postwar governance, Israel’s demand that Hamas disarm, which the group has rejected, and Palestinian demands for a state, which the current Israeli government has rejected,” the Wall Street Journal noted.
Part of Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan would be an international body, the Gaza Board of Peace, that would temporarily govern Gaza in place of Hamas. The board would oversee reconstruction, security, and administration of the enclave until a Palestinian authority could take over.
The board would include international figures—possibly former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair and others from Arab or Western nations—and be chaired by Trump. Hamas would have no role.
“Political divisions could complicate governance plans. The United Arab Emirates, unlike Saudi Arabia, has insisted that the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the West Bank, be fundamentally reformed before it assumes any substantial role in administering Gaza,” the Wall Street Journal noted.
Israel and Hamas are expected to begin negotiating a peace deal that would see the U.S.-designated terrorist group disarm and give up power in Gaza.
On Monday, the hostages were taken to a reception point in Israel to be reunited with their families and undergo examinations.
Israel has released the nearly 2,000 Palestinians it had agreed to free under the terms of the deal.
As Trump arrives in Mideast, Hamas releases all living Israeli hostages added by Editor Two on
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