Emotional scenes have been captured as the 20 remaining Israeli hostages were released after two years in captivity.
After Hamas and Israel agreed to the US-led Gaza peace plan, the remaining hostages captured during the October 7 attacks were released alongside the bodies of four Israeli hostages.
Celebrations erupted in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square, with many Israelis — donning the Israeli flag and yellow ribbons, which symbolise a movement calling for the hostages’ release — being brought to tears over their return.
Videos recorded and published by the IDF captured some of the emotional reunions between the hostages and their families.
One video in particular captured the reunion of Matan Zanguaker, an Israeli hostage, and his mother, Elinav Zanguaker, who shared a lengthy hug.
“My life, you are my life… you are a hero,” Zanguaker said in the video, per SBS News.
“Love of your mother, bless you, bless you, my dear.”
Tears of joy. pic.twitter.com/vb7tGZqAY9
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 13, 2025
One woman who was watching the broadcast of hostages being released in Hostages Square said it was “so exciting and overwhelming that it’s finally happening”.
“What we’ve been fighting for, for over two years — finally our hostages are coming home,” Shelly Bar Nir said, per the publication.
Almost 2,000 Palestinians who were detained by Israel were also released as part of the peace plan. 250 of these detainees were serving life sentences, with 154 exiled and sent to Egypt. However, their final destination is unknown, ABC News reports.
During the conflict, a further 1,700 Palestinians were imprisoned. Per the Associated Press, prisoners from Gaza were arrested by Israel without charge, with four detainees telling the ABC they were mistreated while jailed.
“They would tighten the handcuffs painfully and give us rotten food,” Mouin Wachh, who was detained by Israel, told the publication.
“Every day we heard explosions; they used electric shocks and tasers.”
The IDF did not respond to requests for comment on these claims, but has previously claimed any abuse of prisoners is “contrary to law and IDF orders, and therefore prohibited”, the ABC reports.
Speaking to ABC News, Doua’ Salame said she was waiting alongside her husband for her brother-in-law Khairy, who’d been in jail for 23 years.
“Thank God he was released. It was our dream to see him again,” Salame told the publication.
“He can now see his son, his siblings. My husband is happy; you can see it in his eyes.
“He still can’t believe his brother is free. It feels like a dream.”
Per the publication, Palestinians were warned by “official military channels” not to celebrate the release of the detainees.
“They told us not to celebrate — no media, no photos. We respected that. We will simply welcome him home,” Salame said.
Alaa Alsharabati, who went with his family to Cairo to meet his dad, Ayman, who’d been jailed since 1988, said “it’s like [his dad] was in a grave and suddenly came out into life” when he received a call about the release.
“It was the first time I heard my father’s voice in two years, I swear my heart stopped from joy,” he told ABC News.
“It was mixed feelings, I couldn’t believe myself.”
Despite the joyful scenes, ABC News has reported that concerns have been raised as only four bodies of the 28 deceased Israeli hostages have been released by Hamas. However, per The Guardian, Hamas warned it would have trouble locating some of the bodies.
Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, said any delays from Hamas in regards to returning the remaining bodies would be seen as a “violation” of the ceasefire agreement, the publication reports.
The IDF have since publicly identified two of the four bodies as Guy Iluz and Bipin Joshi.
🟡 IDF representatives informed the families of Guy Iluz, Bipin Joshi, and two additional deceased hostages, whose names have not yet been cleared for publication by their families, that their loved ones have been brought back for burial.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 14, 2025
According to the information and… pic.twitter.com/sL7HpkiN5l
What’s next in the ceasefire agreement?
Per the Council on Foreign Relations, Trump’s 20-point peace plan includes a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, a military drawdown with the IDF withdrawing their troops, the hostage and prisoner release, increased aid delivery into Gaza, and troop deployment, with the US sending 200 troops into Israel to “monitor the ceasefire and help with aid delivery”.
While the release of hostages is the first stage of the peace plan, it has come under fire for lacking detail and “favouring Israel more than it does Hamas”, according to Ian Parmeter, from the ANU Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies, who wrote for The Conversation.
The ceasefire agreement comes two years after the October 7 attacks, in which Hamas killed 1,139 people and took 251 as hostages in Gaza. Israel responded with a military operation in Gaza, which saw at least 67,000 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces and neighbourhoods decimated. A recent United Nations report found that Israel had been “responsible for the commission of genocide in Gaza” since October 2023, a claim Israel denies.
Image source: AP Photo/Oded Balilty
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