US President Donald Trump delivered a sweeping address to Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, on Monday, declaring “the end of war, the end of the era of terror and death,” while veering repeatedly off-script in remarks that mixed triumph, improvisation, and political provocation – including a surprise call for President Isaac Herzog to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who remains on trial for corruption.

Trump landed in Israel just as the 20 living hostages kidnapped by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, still being held captive in Gaza were freed. The bodies of 28 deceased hostages were expected to be released later in the day, but reports emerged that only four would be returned.

The US president opened his speech by poking fun at those who took the floor before him – including Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, Netanyahu, and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid – for taking too long in their own speeches, causing him to be late for a planned summit in Egypt with world leaders about the future of Gaza.

“Who knows if they’ll still be there when I get there?” he quipped.

Trump praised Israelis, saying that “only a proud and faithful people could withstand” the torment of the past two years. The Oct. 7 attack, in which more than 1,200 people were murdered and 251 taken hostage, was “one of the most evil and heinous desecrations of innocent life the world has ever seen,” he said, adding that the atrocities “struck to the core of humanity itself.”

But he went on to say that “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.”

The entire Middle East hoped to see “the disarmament of Hamas,” Trump said, referring to the internationally designated terrorist group. “Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel.”

Hamas seized control of Gaza nearly two decades ago, following Israel’s total military and civilian withdrawal from the enclave.

“People are dancing in the streets – not just in Israel – about what is happening today,” Trump said, referring to the jubilation over the hostage release as part of the US-brokered ceasefire to halt fighting in Gaza.

“What a victory it’s been,’ he added, thanking “the almighty God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

The president said the expansion of the Abraham Accords — which he jokingly referred to by its Hebrew pronunciation — was imminent. “Avraham, it’s so cool. So much, sorta, nicer. The Abraham, versus the Avraham.”

He even suggested that Iran could join the historic accords to normalize relations with Israel, asking Netanyahu, “Would you be happy with that? Wouldn’t it be nice?”

“I think they want to. I think they’re tired,” Trump said, adding that Iran was not resuming its nuclear program. “The last thing they want to do is start digging holes again in mountains that just got blown up.”

“They want to survive, OK?”

Iran, whose leaders regularly call for the destruction of Israel, on Saturday dismissed the idea of joining the accords, saying it was “wishful thinking.”

In his speech, Trump described Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East who led the hostage negotiations, as a “Henry Kissinger who doesn’t leak.”

Addressing Herzog directly, Trump said, “I have an idea, why don’t you give Netanyahu a pardon?”

Netanyahu is currently on trial on corruption charges, including fraud and breach of trust for accepting luxury gifts.

“Netanyahu was one of the best [leaders] during wartime,” Trump said, dismissing the charges against the premier. “Cigars and champagne? Who cares?”

His comments prompted laughs and whispers through the plenum. 

He also praised Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, saying “he’s a very nice opposition leader” and, addressing Netanyahu by his nickname, added, Lapid “is a nice man. Bibi, he’s a nice man.”

“Now you can be a little bit nicer because you’re not at war anymore, Bibi,” Trump quipped.

At one stage, a commotion broke out when Trump’s speech was interrupted by Ayman Odeh and Ofer Cassif, two lawmakers from the Arab Joint List party who held up a sign calling on the US president to “Recognize Palestine.”

After the two were removed fairly quickly, Trump said, “That was very efficient.”

Hadash-Ta’al MKs Ayman Odeh and Ofer Cassif removed from Trump’s speech after holding up signs calling to “recognize Palestine.”

Trump quips that the ejection was “very efficient.” pic.twitter.com/0tvs7JbSAS

— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) October 13, 2025

Trump left for the summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt just after 4 pm local time, telling the Knesset that he was going “meet with the most powerful, the richest nations in the world.”

Netanyahu received a last-minute Trump-brokered invitation from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi but declined, citing the pending Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah which was set to begin on Monday evening. 

It was the first time Sisi spoke to Netanyahu since the start of the war two years ago.

As Trump wrapped up his speech, footage began circulating on social media showing buses of released Palestinian prisoners departing from Ofer Prison in the West Bank.

According to the terms of the ceasefire, 1,950 Palestinian security prisoners, including 250 serving life sentences for deadly terrorist attacks, as well as 1,700 Palestinians arrested since Oct. 7, 2023, were slated for release. 

A violent incident disrupted preparations for the exchange the night before, when one of the inmates slated for release attacked a female guard, leaving her injured. Prison staff quickly restrained the assailant, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said the attacker would be removed from the release list, with another prisoner chosen to take his place.

Some Israelis – including Zvika Mor, the father of hostage Eitan Mor who was released on Monday morning – are bitterly opposed to the release of prisoners. 

A day before his son’s release, the older Mor said his son would support his father’s staunch opposition to previous hostage-ceasefire deals.

“In our home, we educated our kids to risk their lives for the people of Israel, for the State of Israel. If Eitan hadn’t been taken hostage, he would have fought in Gaza, and then he, too, would have been required to risk his life,” he told Israel’s Army Radio. 

“The deal is very far from what we wished for the State of Israel, because we have to pay for our hostages with 250 terrorists with life sentences — murderers who will no doubt go back to murdering Israelis,” he added.

Brenda Lemkus, whose daughter Dalia was murdered in a 2014 stabbing attack in the West Bank, joined other bereaved relatives from the Choosing Life group — which opposes prisoner releases — in condemning the decision to release her daughter’s killer.

“Releasing him invites the next murder immediately,” Lemkus said. “The blood of those murdered is on the ministers who voted for this.” She called on Israel to institute the death penalty for terrorists.

Michael Nurzhitz, brother of reservist Vadim Nurzhitz, said that while he was happy for the hostages and their families, releasing Raed Sheikh — the terrorist and Palestinian police officer responsible for his brother’s murder — was “unfathomable,” especially ahead of the 25th anniversary of the incident.

Vadim Nurzhitz and fellow Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reservist Yossi Avrahami were lynched in Ramallah on Oct. 12, 2000, after accidentally entering the city and being taken into custody at a Palestinian police station.

“If they release the murderer, the terrorist will return to terror, just like those released in the Shalit deal — they will return to murder us,” Nurzhitz said, referring to the 2011 exchange that freed Gilad Shalit in return for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including Yahya Sinwar, who later masterminded Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.

Choosing Life petitioned the High Court against the move, saying “the blood of our children has turned into a tradable commodity.”

Eliya Atias, however, whose son Eden was stabbed to death while he was sleeping in 2013, said the release of his son’s murderer was a sacrifice she “felt good” about making if it meant freeing the hostages. 

“I am a believing Jew who believes that the Creator will pay him back,” she said. “I feel that thanks to my act, I am saving the lives of my brothers in Gaza.”

Jubilation filled Israeli streets on Monday morning as all 20 living hostages abducted by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, still being held captive in Gaza were returned to Israel.

Air Force One, carrying US President Donald Trump for a lightning visit, landed in Israel at 9:20 am local time, just after the first group of hostages — Alon Ohel, Matan Angrest, twin brothers Gali and Ziv Berman, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Eitan Mor, and Omri Miran — arrived on Israeli soil.

The second wave included Elkana Bohbot, Rom Braslavski, Nimrod Cohen, brothers David and Ariel Cuneo, Evyatar David, Maxim Herkin, Eitan Horn, Segev Kalfon, Bar Kuperstein, Yosef-Haim Ohana, Avinatan Or, and Matan Zangauker.

“It’s official: There are no more living Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) wrote in a social-media post.

Hamas handed over the hostages — dressed in the same pseudo-military uniforms the Islamist group had forced previous captives to wear — to the International Committee of the Red Cross. While they were being transported, masked operatives patched video calls between the hostages and their families in Israel, in what appeared to be a cynical ploy to control the narrative. The ceasefire agreement barred public parades and ceremonies, unlike the earlier hostage-release deals in January and February.

Julie Kuperstein, the mother of hostage Bar Kuperstein, told Israel’s Channel 12 News she received a missed call from “Al-Aqsa Brigades,” referring to Hamas’s military wing. “I called them back, and they answered me! All of a sudden, I see Bar!” she said. “He said, ‘Mom, everything is OK! Mom, everything is OK!’” She spoke through tears, shouting in jubilation.

The Red Cross subsequently transferred the hostages to the IDF inside Gaza, where military medical teams conducted initial examinations before they traveled to the Re’im military base to reunite with their families.

Yosef-Chaim Ohana’s father reunites with his son and it is a hug for the ages pic.twitter.com/2izIBicSFg

— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) October 13, 2025

Footage of the reunions showed parents clutching their children in tears. Zvika Mor, who had opposed releasing terrorists even for his son’s freedom, could not speak and only sobbed as he held Eitan. 

https://x.com/seanfeucht/status/1977689710630695052 

Einav Zangauker — who had led an unrelenting campaign urging the Israeli government to strike a hostage-release deal at any cost — embraced her son, crying, “My life, my life, I love you, you are a hero, you are a champion!”

Einav Zangauker reunites with her son Matan, 25, after a heroic two-year campaign across Israel, during which she tirelessly pressed the government to end the war and bring the hostages home. pic.twitter.com/a5UkFkVyxm

— ‏Tal Schneider טל שניידר تال شنايدر (@talschneider) October 13, 2025

Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, where tens of thousands have gathered for protests and vigils over the past two years, erupted in cheers as footage of the releases appeared on giant screens. People waved American flags and posters thanking Trump. When news broke that Air Force One had landed, the crowd shrieked with delight.

The Trump administration led the effort to push the US-brokered ceasefire and hostage-release deal, which halted fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, over the finish line. Of the 251 hostages initially abducted during Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel, 48 remained in captivity entering Monday, and only 20 of them were still alive.

The freed hostages appeared to be in relatively stable condition, including Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David, who had been shown emaciated in Hamas propaganda videos.

Each hostage received a welcome kit from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with a handwritten note reading: “On behalf of the entire Israeli people, welcome back! We waited for you and embrace you.”

President Isaac Herzog quoted from the Book of Jeremiah on X: “And the children shall return to their own borders.” He added, “With thanks to God we welcome our loved ones home. We are waiting for everyone — every last one.”

Rachel Goldberg-Polin and her husband, Jon, whose son Hersh was murdered in captivity, also invoked scripture, calling on social media for people to give thanks by reciting Psalm 126, which speaks of captives returning to Zion.

In his address at Israel’s parliament later on Monday, Trump said, “People are dancing in the streets – not just in Israel – about what is happening today.”

“What a victory it’s been,” he said, thanking “the almighty God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

“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,” he added.

Under the deal, Israel agreed to release 1,950 Palestinian security prisoners, including 250 serving life sentences for deadly terrorist attacks, as well as 1,700 Palestinians arrested since Oct. 7, 2023. The prisoners were to be freed before the return of the 28 remaining dead hostages.

However, the Hostage and Missing Families Forum said only four of the 28 bodies would be returned to Israel on Monday, calling it a “blatant” violation of the ceasefire agreement.

“This represents a blatant breach of the agreement by Hamas. We expect Israel’s government and the mediators to take immediate action to rectify this grave injustice,” the forum said. “The families of the deceased hostages are enduring especially difficult days filled with deep sorrow. We will not abandon any hostage. The mediators must enforce the agreement’s terms and ensure Hamas pays a price for this violation.”

As their last living hostages returned home from Gaza after two years of war, Israelis gave visiting President Donald Trump a hero’s welcome — and threw out some lofty comparisons.

“Mr. President, you stand before the people of Israel not as another American president, but as a giant of Jewish history — one for whom we must look back, two-and-a-half millennia into the mists of time, to find a parallel, in Cyrus the Great,” Amir Ohana, speaker of the Knesset, told Trump on Monday as he welcomed the president for a victory speech to the Israeli parliament.

To be compared to Cyrus is no small thing. Living around 600 BCE and shrouded in myth, the Persian ruler is traditionally credited with granting Jews permission to return from exile in Babylon to the land of Israel and for helping them to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Because Cyrus was a pagan who by force seized and ruled over a vast empire, he tends to be treated as an imperfect yet essential vessel for God’s divine plan for the Jews, and is widely celebrated in Jewish history.

It’s a comparison that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also made. Visiting the White House in 2018 during Trump’s first term, shortly after the president moved the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Netanyahu situated Trump in a long line of friendly world leaders including Cyrus, Lord Balfour and President Harry Truman — all of whom he said helped return the Jews to their rightful homes in Israel. At the time a Jewish Israeli group, the Mikdash Educational Center, started selling commemorative coins imposing Trump’s face over Cyrus’s.

The Cyrus framing has also helped Christian Zionists embrace Trump since his first term, despite the community’s initial misgivings about Trump’s personal behavior and often crude demeanor. 

In 2018 the Evangelical leader Mike Evans, who founded the Jerusalem-based Friends of Zion Museum, declared that Cyrus “was used as an instrument of God for deliverance in the Bible, and God has used this imperfect vessel, this flawed human being like you or I, this imperfect vessel, and he’s using him in an incredible, amazing way to fulfill his plans and purposes.”

As the return of the living hostages seemed imminent, Evans’ group placed “Cyrus the Great is Alive!” billboards in Jerusalem. The billboards feature images of Trump and the American and Israeli flags intertwined.

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