Release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees: how the day unfolded

0:00This is The Guardian.

0:06Today, Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees finally come home.

0:23I'm here in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv where hopefully in 25 minutes or so we will see the release on large screens pebbled around the square For more than two years Israelis have been gathering in what's become known as Hostages Square to call for the return of those kidnapped on October 7th. Monday was the day they'd been praying for. Our chief reporter Daniel Boffey was there. For those who know London, it's kind of the size of Trafalgar Square with tents on the outskirts, signs, banners, showing the faces of those who've been missing all this time. a large screen with a clock. 737 days, two hours, 19 minutes and four seconds they've been missing so far.

1:16We're very much hoping that clock will stop very soon. Everyone seems to truly believe this is going to happen now. A crowd of some 65 ,000 gathered in the square as the names began to come through and the journey's home began.

1:48at the same time anxious Palestinian families were waiting for the release of loved ones as Israel agreed to release nearly 2 ,000 detainees Guardian journalist Will Christou was in Ramallah in the West Bank As soon as the bus came into sight and we saw that first detainee making the peace sign through the bus windows the crowd just went wild and they surged forward and everyone just started jumping towards the bus to find their family members I saw one person who was carried from the bus straight to his mother and he immediately just fell before her feet and started kissing her feet.

2:34And in the midst of it all, Donald Trump flew from a hero's welcome in Israel to Egypt, where world leaders gathered to sign off the ceasefire deal and make plans for its next steps.

2:50Together we've achieved what everybody said was impossible. At long last, we have peace in the Middle East. And we've heard it for many years, but nobody thought it could ever get there. And now we're there. From The Guardian, I'm Lucy Hoff. Today in Focus, a day of drama as the first phase of the ceasefire deal unfolds.

3:16Dan, we're speaking to you at lunchtime on Monday. You've been in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv since the very early hours of this morning. and you've ducked out and found somewhere nearby to talk to us. Thanks so much. Tell me about the conversations that you've been having in Tel Aviv this morning. Yeah, so it was a kind of a range of people, people who kind of, from the various kibbutz where hostages were taken, abducted two years ago on the 7th of October, people who didn't have any direct relationship with the hostages, but who'd been coming either every day for the last two years or every Saturday for the last two years and felt that if these people didn't come home, then in the words of one of those I spoke to, Israel is a place where Jews are meant to be safe.

4:03And if these people didn't come home, then what is the point of Israel? I was born in Farazah. This is a chibbutz. So one of the first people I spoke to was a 34-year-old man who was holding up a placard with a picture of two hostages taken from a kibbutz on the 7th of October. And he'd lived in the kibbutz and knew it well. And people involved in that kibbutz had set up a tent as soon as the war had started, where it was kind of their HQ for campaigning for the release of the seven people who were taken from that particular kibbutz on the 7th of October. How long has this tent been there? Two years.

4:46Two years? Yes, for the first day of the war. Right, yeah. Wow. six of them were released today one of them unfortunately was was killed over the last two years we're not quite sure what what happened there but they have been here day in day out they do shifts the people behind this tent to make sure that they're always there they're in solidarity that that the campaign never never relents because we keep this stand for about almost two years with shifts yeah it's two shifts every day really and everyone is volunteering day by day in the heat and in the rain and cold so so dan who has been released today how many hostages in total have been brought home so we have 20 living hostages released and you know that's a huge relief and it's included i mean some of them the names or at least the the stories you you may be familiar with, Evritar David, who was at the Nova Music Festival.

5:49And there are images of being, a video has been released by Hamas in the recent months of him digging his own grave, was how it was described, and urging the Israeli Prime Minister to agree to a ceasefire. But he's safely out. And we have seen some footage of him. And he looks in reasonable shape. Then we have Matan Andrest, who was the soldier who was captured from his tank, it was attacked by Hamas, near the Gaza perimeter fence. His family had been extremely outspoken against Netanyahu and the government, their argument being that the government has not prioritised the hostages that prolonged the war.

6:27But he as well, he's safe and we've seen images of him and he looks well. The concern is that we haven't seen images of everybody. So in terms of their health, at this moment we don't know. And we've been seeing images being released of reunited families. What are we hearing from those families who've been waiting for two long years? Well, it was extraordinary because even before anyone was released, we were seeing video footage of people who were going to be released having video phone calls with their loved ones. Hamas had allowed them to make calls.

7:11There was one mum was asked, what did he say? Because we couldn't really hear. Oh, I don't know. I was just screaming all the time. This was all played out on the big screens in front of Hostages Square. People were sort of laughing when she was talking about this because it was just a nice moment, just a bit of levity. And we haven't had many words from any of the hostages, but they're on a long journey of recovery. So I can't imagine that's going to happen for a while. And tragically for other families, they've had confirmation today, haven't they, that their loved-ons won't be coming home and that their bodies might be.

7:48What do we know about that operation? Because there are still some uncertainties about the location of some of the remains, aren't there? Well, absolutely, yeah. The problem is that the idea, part of this, the plan was that 28 of the deceased hostages would be released by Hamas. But unfortunately, they don't know, they say they don't know where the bodies are. So we know that four have been or are being in the process of being handed over to the Israelis. But the 24, the other 24, we're not sure what's going to happen. And this is a problem because the US special envoy, Witkoff, he said, you know, this is an important part of it.

8:30The people who they know their loved ones are not coming back alive. But they are desperate to have closure. And so that is a problem. I'm not quite sure how that's going to be resolved. There are so many things that are going to have to resolve. There are so many loose ends. But one of the claims is that such a destruction in Gaza that bodies were buried and now God knows what's happened to them. So this is a real complication. Dan, talking to people in Hostages Square, how is this going down politically? How are people feeling towards the Israeli government? Is there blame or gratitude? I've heard that there was booing for Netanyahu and applause for Trump.

9:12Yeah, there's a huge amount of love, perhaps, but certainly gratitude for Donald Trump and lots of signs. One was the Trump list, which I think was kind of a play on the Schindler's list, and it was the 20 who'd been released. But yeah, in terms of Netanyahu, everyone I spoke to had complete disdain. And that's, you know, that's absolutely not total blank from the country, but even people who previously were supportive of his government who the families of hostages have rather turned against him do not believe that he's prioritised their loved ones over the last two years. And talking to people in the crowd, what do they feel this moment says?

9:51Is there a sense that this is a step towards peace or just a pause before more violence? I mean, the most hopeful comment I heard was it might not be the end but it could be the beginning of the end. Right. Do you think this does mean peace in the long term? I always say that I hope so, you know, but this neighbourhood is not so much friendly. We want peace. I grew up in Nachalos and I was born there before 1967 war. And there were days that we used to go to Gaza to eat hummus and we went to the beach and we went to a restaurant and we had a very good relationship with the people there. But since Hamas, it changed and it became very not friendly, let's say.

10:44So, no, there's not a huge amount of confidence that this will resolve the Middle East crisis, but it's something, you know, the relief that the last two years and all that it has involved is, in Donald Trump's words, over, is palpable. It's just, everyone is beaming. It's just, relief is the right word.

11:18Jason Burke, you're The Guardian's international security correspondent. We've been talking to Dan about the mood on the ground in Tel Aviv on this very emotional day that the final hostages are released. At the core of the political choreography on Monday, we had Donald Trump flying into Israel early in the morning to deliver a speech to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. 20 courageous hostages are returning to the glorious embrace of their families, and it is glorious. 28 more precious loved ones are coming home at last to rest in this sacred soil. Clearly keen to promote his central role in all of this.

12:01To what extent is that valid? We know it's an instinct of Trump at the best of all. Yeah, it is an instinct of Trump. But I mean, here, it's pretty clear that nothing would have happened in the last few weeks had Trump not really decided it was going to happen and was going to lean very heavily on Netanyahu. And I think the turning point there was the failed attempt by Israel to kill the leadership of Hamas in Qatar with an airstrike. The Americans were told very late about that. They didn't really want it to happen. And Trump was very cross, I think. And that was really important. I think generally as well, Benjamin Netanyahu is a very, very experienced politician who spent decades dealing with American presidents and probably got overconfident and thought he could kind of bully him like he's bullied other presidents or at least manipulate him, and he was wrong.

12:58And I think he underestimated, too, the degree to which Trump feels a bond with, perhaps, the leaders of the Gulf, other Arab leaders. He likes the power they have. He likes the possibility that they can all make an awful lot of money together at some point. and I think Netanyahu just underestimated all of that and found himself in a position where he couldn't resist Trump and that was key and then Trump was able just to create this momentum basically by ignoring all the details and we're now going to find out whether that actually works as an approach. So Trump has managed to create this sense of momentum as you say in part because Netanyahu has found himself in a weakened political position at home and overseas.

13:54Is that why this ceasefire feels different, maybe more sustainable than the ceasefire at the start of this year? This is different in absolutely every way. Not only do you have the obvious factor of the American president leaning very hard on all the main actors, But the circumstances have changed dramatically as well. Hamas are now in a really very weak position. And Netanyahu is also under a lot of pressure internally. I mean, it's no secret in Israel that the Israeli military is exhausted. ammunition stocks are depleted its reservists are all absolutely exhausted and also just you know don't want to fight anymore it's not just so physically and morally exhausted in many cases i mean and that had been communicated to him by the most senior officers of the israeli armed forces so it was getting harder and harder to continue the war.

15:05And for the final hostages from the Israeli side to be released I mean that is Hamas's last bargaining chip so is there a real sense of closure that you're picking up on in Israel? For the Israelis I think it's absolutely central for ordinary Israelis wherever they are on the political spectrum apart from perhaps some on the very hard right. It's absolutely clear how focused on the hostages, how the hostages were such an emotional element for Israelis in terms of the war, to the extent that the sufferings of Palestinians in Gaza was almost entirely excluded. For the Israelis, October 7th is every day.

15:50I mean, you know, talking to people, that trauma is not yet a scar even. I mean, it's an open wound. It's very, very immediate, current, intense trauma as a result of the sense of existential fear that many felt that day and hasn't gone since. So as you say, the scale of suffering of Palestinians is not something that has been acknowledged sufficiently within Israel as the hostage situation has been playing out. But is that suffering, namely a death toll that at very base estimates stands at 67 ,000, a UN commission declaring that Israel is committing a genocide, something that's motivated Trump in any way?

16:39One of the really clear elements here is that Trump's relationship with the Arab leaders is important. Trump's relationship with Netanyahu is really important. Trump's absolute disdain for the Palestinian people and their grievances is equally apparent. I mean, we knew that in January or February when he was proposing to, seriously apparently, to displace the entire population of Gaza, level it and build what he called a reviera on the Mediterranean. And nothing subsequently has indicated any change in his mind. And the Palestinian voice in all of this is almost completely absent, not heard, not even asked for, let alone heard.

17:38Jason, we're talking as a major summit in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt is kicking off. Trump is apparently running late because he spent so long giving his speech to the Israeli parliament. Tell me who's flying into Egypt today. It feels like we've got all of the world's major powers. Yeah, everybody's there, apart from the Israelis. Right. I mean, you know, it's obviously been held in Egypt. You've got pretty much all the region. You've also got kind of half the Europeans, Macron, Orban, Starmer's going. I mean, it's just sort of everybody wants to be there and basically have a slice of it. I mean, it seems pretty cynical.

18:25They're there to discuss how they're going to implement the peace agreement or turn the ceasefire agreement into a real peace agreement, I should say. and who's going to put up the money, how they're going to do the stabilisation force and so forth. All of that is pretty technical. I have trouble seeing how you get all these really big leaders and big egos in a room, how they're going to get involved in the really detailed negotiations or debate on this. But the momentum thing is really important, just keeping that momentum. And also perhaps that number of people involved means that it will be harder for Trump to drift off it and for his attention to fade.

19:11Because that also is going to be a potential risk going forward. And who do we have there representing Palestinians? We have the Palestinian Authority and the President, Mahmoud Abbas. Palestinian Authority are the nearest the Palestinians have got to a government. although really all they exercise is a partial control of bits of the West Bank. But as you say there's no Israeli presence and Netanyahu himself is not travelling to Egypt but nonetheless in his absence if world leaders endorse the broad principles of Trump's plan today what happens next? We don't actually know I mean that's the whole thing about this plan The next stage looks like it will be the stabilization force.

20:01So that's going to be some kind of quasi-military peacekeeping operation, possibly involving the Egyptians and the Jordanians. There'll also be lots of pledging of funding, I would imagine. We also have to start putting together a technocratic committee of Palestinians to run Gaza, apparently. overseen by possibly Tony Blair and possibly Donald Trump above him. And we're going to need some kind of discussion about disarmament for Hamas and a further withdrawal from the Israelis. And while all of that is going on, we need a huge amount of aid to go in. But you also need shelter. You need medicine.

20:50You need people who can administer the medicine. You need roads cleared. You need unexploded ordnance cleared. You need sanitation put back. I mean, it's just huge.

21:13Will Christou, you've been reporting for The Guardian from Ramallah in the West Bank all day, where families of Palestinian political prisoners and detainees were waiting for their release. We're talking to you on Monday evening. Tell me about the atmosphere there today. So we spent the day in Ramallah waiting in front of the cultural center where detainees were to be released. And we were waiting there with families. And the mood there was of excitement. People were really, really excited to see their loved ones out of prison bars. And a lot of these people, most of these people, had not been able to see their loved ones for the last two years, whether in prison or out of prison, because Israel's been restricting family visits to prisons since the October 7th attack.

22:04So there was really this sense of excitement.

22:13At the same time, there was a bit of a fear because there was a lot of mistreatment in Israeli prison centers and human rights groups in Israel, like B'Tselem, have documented what they call a systematic policy of mistreatment of Palestinian detainees in the jails. And, you know, one of the family members I spoke to told me that before he saw his relative today, he had talked to him on the phone. His relative had told him, you're not going to recognize me. And when he saw him, he really didn't because he had just lost so much weight. One thing about life in Palestine and about, you know, the occupation of Palestinian territories is that prison is sort of omnipresent in life.

22:58You know, there's estimates that around 40 % of all Palestinian men will be detained at one point in their lifetime. Prior to the release today, it was over 3 ,000 Palestinians that were being held in administrative detention. So, you know, around a third of the total number of Palestinians being held in Israeli jails were being held there without trial.

23:23One of the folks we spoke to, Bassam, who is an older gentleman, and he was waiting for his relative to be released from prison. And so Bassam told us that before his relative was released, he was paid a visit by the Israeli security services who told him expressly that they're not allowed to have a public celebration for when his relative returns. They said, there's no singing, there's no dancing, there's no feast, don't invite your friends over.

23:55And we heard this from every detainee we spoke to. And the Israeli military actually distributed flyers near the prison in Arabic, which said, we're watching you everywhere. Don't do anything to support terrorists or you could face arrests. Will, how many people have been released and what can you tell me about them? And so around 2 ,000 Palestinian detainees, the vast majority of which have not been charged with a crime or have had a trial. 250 of them had been charged, mostly with life sentences. And then the rest were people who were detained from Gaza during the war. And that comes out to about 1 ,700 people in Gaza.

24:39So as part of the negotiations, Hamas had asked for a couple of key prominent political figures, as well as senior members of its group. And probably the most prominent of them is Marwan Baruti, who's serving a life sentence in Israeli prison. He's referred to by many Palestinians as the Palestinian Nelson Mandela. And he's widely seen as a figure that can unite Palestinians from across the divide, as well as sort of a big advocate of the two-state solution. So he was one of the key figures that Hamas was demanding in negotiations. But Israelis say that he's been involved in the planning of violent attacks.

25:19And ultimately, he was not released. So we're speaking to you from Ramallah in the West Bank, where 88 people have been released too. But where else are former detainees and prisoners being taken to and why? So the vast majority of those detainees who were released today were sent to Gaza. The 1 ,700 who were detained during the war in Gaza were sent back to Gaza. And then most of those 250 who were serving life sentences were also sent to Gaza, and some of them are going to be sent on to neighboring countries like Egypt and Turkey. And a lot of these folks are considered violent criminals by Israel.

25:59Most of them have been charged for violent crimes by Israel. And so it was seen as a very politically sensitive issue to keep them within the Palestinian territories to the Israeli domestic audience. And how has the logistics of this release gone? Has it gone smoothly? I would say on the Palestinian side, not smoothly at all. We did not have the final list of detainees to be released until the 11th hour. And there was actually quite a sort of a tragic mix-up for some of the families. We were sitting there interviewing families starting around 6 a.m. this morning. And we interviewed a woman and her family who were awaiting the release of their brother, who had been in prison for 23 years.

26:48and they were talking about what they're going to do when he's back, etc., etc. And then at 8 a.m., the Palestinian Prisoners Commission released a list of detainees and saying where they were going to go. And we showed it to them, and it showed on this list that their brother was not coming back to them, as they thought, but actually was to be deported to Gaza.