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Gaza ceasefire: all living Israeli hostages freed as Trump arrives in Egypt for summit – latest updates

admin-cdn13 October، 2025

0 0 12 minutes read

Gaza ceasefire: all living Israeli hostages freed as Trump arrives in Egypt for summit – latest updates

The day so far

US president Donald Trump has arrived in Egypt for a summit on Gaza’s future after visiting Israel to celebrate the ceasefire deal with Hamas.
Trump praised Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday as the two leaders appeared together before an international summit on the Gaza deal. “He played a very important role. I appreciate it very much,” Trump said of Sisi, whom he called as a powerful leader who keeps crime down in his country.
Sisi held a meeting on Monday with the presidents of France and Turkey, and Qatar’s emir and others to help coordinate the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire and reconstruction efforts for the territory, according to a statement by the Egyptian president’s office. The meeting was held on the sidelines of an international summit in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh to finalise an agreement aimed at ending the war in Gaza.
All 20 remaining living Israeli hostages have been released by Hamas after more than two years in captivity in Gaza. Hostages were handed over to the Red Cross before finally rejoining their families with the help of the Israeli army.
Hamas has handed over the remains of two deceased hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza, an official involved in the operation said on Monday. Hamas’s armed wing earlier said it would hand over the bodies of four hostages.
Huge crowds welcomed buses carrying freed Palestinian prisoners have arrived in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank. Israel says it has released more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, which was brokered with help from the US, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey.
Hamas has started deploying armed fighters and police across parts of Gaza in an apparent attempt to reassert authority in the devastated Palestinian territory after the ceasefire deal agreed with Israel last week. Images showed dozens of Hamas fighters at a hospital in southern Gaza during the release of Israeli hostages on Monday morning and there were reports of shootings and executions elsewhere in the territory.
A last-minute plan by Donald Trump to invite Benjamin Netanyahu to a multinational Gaza summit in Egypt had to be aborted after the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said he would not land his plane in Sharm el-Sheikh if the invitation stood. The mid-air power power struggle started after it was announced that the Israeli prime minister had accepted a late invitation from Trump to the conference being jointly chaired by the US president and his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, in Egypt.
During a visit to Israel, Trump declared that the ceasefire agreement marks the end of Israel’s war on Gaza, as well as the end of the “age of terror and death”. Speaking to the Knesset, the US president said: “This is not only the end of a war. This is the end of the age of terror and death and the beginning of the age of faith and hope and of God.”
Trump says he wants a peace deal with Iran, after the US oined Israel in striking the country’s nuclear sites during a brief war over the summer. “They got it from one side, from the other, and you know it would be great if we could make a peace deal with them,” Trump said.
Trump said that in Lebanon “the dagger of Hezbollah” aimed at Israel has been “totally shattered”. “My administration is actively supporting the new president of Lebanon and his mission to permanently disarm Hezbollah’s… brigades.”
At least 67,869 Palestinian people have been killed and 170,105 others injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Monday. Most of the people killed have been civilians, many of whom were women and children.

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Tony Blair was among delegates who lined up to shake Donald Trump’s hand at the Gaza summit in Egypt.

The former British prime minister is poised to potentially join a “board of peace” to supervise governance of Gaza under the US president’s plans.

US President Donald Trump greets former British prime minister Tony Blair during a summit on Gaza in Sharm el-Sheikh on October 13, 2025. Photograph: Evan Vucci/AFP/Getty ImagesShare

The day so far

US president Donald Trump has arrived in Egypt for a summit on Gaza’s future after visiting Israel to celebrate the ceasefire deal with Hamas.
Trump praised Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday as the two leaders appeared together before an international summit on the Gaza deal. “He played a very important role. I appreciate it very much,” Trump said of Sisi, whom he called as a powerful leader who keeps crime down in his country.
Sisi held a meeting on Monday with the presidents of France and Turkey, and Qatar’s emir and others to help coordinate the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire and reconstruction efforts for the territory, according to a statement by the Egyptian president’s office. The meeting was held on the sidelines of an international summit in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh to finalise an agreement aimed at ending the war in Gaza.
All 20 remaining living Israeli hostages have been released by Hamas after more than two years in captivity in Gaza. Hostages were handed over to the Red Cross before finally rejoining their families with the help of the Israeli army.
Hamas has handed over the remains of two deceased hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza, an official involved in the operation said on Monday. Hamas’s armed wing earlier said it would hand over the bodies of four hostages.
Huge crowds welcomed buses carrying freed Palestinian prisoners have arrived in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank. Israel says it has released more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, which was brokered with help from the US, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey.
Hamas has started deploying armed fighters and police across parts of Gaza in an apparent attempt to reassert authority in the devastated Palestinian territory after the ceasefire deal agreed with Israel last week. Images showed dozens of Hamas fighters at a hospital in southern Gaza during the release of Israeli hostages on Monday morning and there were reports of shootings and executions elsewhere in the territory.
A last-minute plan by Donald Trump to invite Benjamin Netanyahu to a multinational Gaza summit in Egypt had to be aborted after the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said he would not land his plane in Sharm el-Sheikh if the invitation stood. The mid-air power power struggle started after it was announced that the Israeli prime minister had accepted a late invitation from Trump to the conference being jointly chaired by the US president and his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, in Egypt.
During a visit to Israel, Trump declared that the ceasefire agreement marks the end of Israel’s war on Gaza, as well as the end of the “age of terror and death”. Speaking to the Knesset, the US president said: “This is not only the end of a war. This is the end of the age of terror and death and the beginning of the age of faith and hope and of God.”
Trump says he wants a peace deal with Iran, after the US oined Israel in striking the country’s nuclear sites during a brief war over the summer. “They got it from one side, from the other, and you know it would be great if we could make a peace deal with them,” Trump said.
Trump said that in Lebanon “the dagger of Hezbollah” aimed at Israel has been “totally shattered”. “My administration is actively supporting the new president of Lebanon and his mission to permanently disarm Hezbollah’s… brigades.”
At least 67,869 Palestinian people have been killed and 170,105 others injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Monday. Most of the people killed have been civilians, many of whom were women and children.

ShareWilliam Christou

The police could not hold the crowds back. As soon as they saw the Palestinian prisoners through the windows of the bus, hundreds of people gathering in front of a theatre in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank rushed forward, chanting the names of loved ones they had not seen for years and in some cases, decades.

The prisoners were gaunt, the sharp angles of their faces decorated by freshly scabbed-over wounds. Loved ones hoisted them up on their shoulders with ease. One prisoner, swaddled in a Palestinian keffiyeh and splaying his fingers into a V for victory, was dropped before his mother, whose feet he began to kiss.

In total, 88 Palestinian detainees were released from Israeli prisons and sent to the occupied West Bank on Monday – the other nearly 2,000 prisoners were sent to Gaza, where a minority would travel on to neighbouring countries.

The detainees were released by Israel a few hours after all living Israeli hostages were returned from Gaza. The exchange marked the first step in a ceasefire that could permanently end the two-year conflict in the territory.

The geopolitical implication of the prisoner release was far from families’ minds on Monday; most were celebrating a release they never thought would come. Most of the men were serving life sentences and many were charged with violent crimes.

US president Donald Trump praised Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday as the two leaders appeared together before an international summit on the Gaza deal.

“He played a very important role. I appreciate it very much,” Trump said of Sisi, whom he called as a powerful leader who keeps crime down in his country

Updated at 17.28 CEST

Hamas has handed over the remains of two deceased hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza, an official involved in the operation said on Monday.

Hamas’s armed wing earlier said it would hand over the bodies of four hostages.

Egypt’s Sisi discusses coordination over Gaza ceasefire and reconstruction with Western and Arab officials

Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi held a meeting on Monday with the presidents of France and Turkey, and Qatar’s emir and others to help coordinate the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire and reconstruction efforts for the territory, according to a statement by the Egyptian president’s office.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of an international summit in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh to finalise an agreement aimed at ending the war in Gaza.

Hamas deploys armed fighters and police across parts of Gaza

Hamas has started deploying armed fighters and police across parts of Gaza in an apparent attempt to reassert authority in the devastated Palestinian territory after the ceasefire deal agreed with Israel last week.

Images showed dozens of Hamas fighters at a hospital in southern Gaza during the release of Israeli hostages on Monday morning and there were reports of shootings and executions elsewhere in the territory. Telegram channels associated with Hamas said “collaborators and traitors” had been targeted, a reference to Israel-backed militia in the territory, while Hamas gunmen also engaged in bloody clashes with a powerful local family in Gaza City over the weekend.

The violence is unlikely to immediately threaten the current ceasefire agreement with Israel but raises significant concerns over the disarmament of Hamas, a key though ill-defined provision of the deal, and the challenges that will confront the new stabilisation force of regional troops that is to be deployed to Gaza.

Asked by a journalist on Air Force One about reports that Hamas was moving against rivals to regain control in parts of Gaza, the US president, Donald Trump, suggested the militant Islamist organisation was acting within the parameters of the ceasefire deal.

“They do want to stop the problems and they’ve been open about it, and we gave them approval for a period of time … You have close to 2 million people going back to buildings that have been demolished, and a lot of bad things can happen. So we want it to be – we want it to be safe. I think it’s going to be fine. Who knows for sure,” Trump said.

Trump plan to invite Netanyahu to Gaza summit aborted after Erdoğan warning

Patrick Wintour

A last-minute plan by Donald Trump to invite Benjamin Netanyahu to a multinational Gaza summit in Egypt had to be aborted after the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said he would not land his plane in Sharm el-Sheikh if the invitation stood.

The mid-air power power struggle started after it was announced that the Israeli prime minister had accepted a late invitation from Trump to the conference being jointly chaired by the US president and his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, in Egypt.

Netanyahu’s presence at the summit in Sharm el-Sheikh had apparently been sealed by Trump in a phone call from Israel on Monday morning with Sisi.

It is not clear if Erdoğan’s refusal to land for the summit was the cause of Netanyahu changing his plans, but it is known that he spoke to Sisi to raise his objections from his plane above Egypt.

A statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office said: “Prime Minister Netanyahu was invited by US President Trump to participate in a conference taking place today in Egypt. The prime minister thanked President Trump for his invitation but stated that he would not be able to attend due to the proximity of the event to the start of the holiday.”

Figures on the extreme right in Netanyahu’s coalition government had also threatened to resign if he went to the conference.

International criminal court arrest warrants have been issued against Netanyahu for alleged war crimes in Gaza, and while Egypt is not a signatory to the court, his presence at the summit would have been contentious, including among those Arab states that have not normalised relations with Israel. More than 20 world leaders were due to attend the hastily arranged summit.

Trump arrives in Egypt for talks on Gaza future

US president Donald Trump has arrived in Egypt for a summit on Gaza’s future after visiting Israel to celebrate the ceasefire deal with Hamas.

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Sharm El Sheikh International Airport. Photograph: Evan Vucci/APShare

Updated at 16.47 CEST

Emotional footage shows the moment families were reunited with freed Israeli hostages.

All 20 remaining living Israeli hostages have been released by Hamas after more than two years in captivity in Gaza.

Parents were reunited with sons and children with fathers, as those held were handed over to the Red Cross before finally rejoining their loved ones with the help of the Israeli army.

Freed Israeli hostages reunite with families in tearful reunions – videoShare

Huge crowds welcome buses carrying freed Palestinian prisoners have arrived in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.

Israel says it has released more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, which was brokered with help from the US, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey.

Huge crowds welcome freed Palestinian prisoners in Ramallah – video Share

Trump boards Air Force One to fly to Egypt for ‘peace summit’

US president Donald Trump has boarded Air Force One and is now set to leave Israel to fly to Egypt for the Gaza peace summit.

He was seen on to the plane by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom the pair shared seemingly warm exchanges – although most of the conversation on the runway was inaudible due to the noise of the plane.

Trump and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will co-host a summit of more than 20 world leaders in Sharm El Sheikh.

The summit’s aim is “to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability”, according to the Egyptian presidency.

The impressive aims of the meeting are matched by a similarly impressive guest list, many of whom have played a vital role in securing the ceasefire and hostage release deal that is currently in place.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar and King Abdullah II of Jordan Photograph: Blondet Eliot/ABACA/ShutterstockShare

Updated at 15.39 CEST

All 20 remaining living Israeli hostages have been released by Hamas after more than two years in captivity in Gaza.

Hostages were handed over to the Red Cross before finally rejoining their families with the help of the Israeli army.

Hamas had allowed some of the hostages to make video calls home on Monday morning before their release.

‘You are coming home’: surviving Israeli hostages freed after two years in Gaza – video reportShare

The US president, Donald Trump, is expected to head straight to his plane so he can co-chair the peace summit with Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi in Sharm el-Sheikh as quickly as possible. He is running late.

The continuing success of Trump’s deal – and how closely the next stages match up to Trump’s 20-point peace plan – are all expected to be up for discussions at Monday’s meeting.

Among those who are attending are the UN secretary general, António Guterres, Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron.

Trump’s Gaza plan left open the possibility of a role for Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority in Gaza – contingent on various reforms – but Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected such an idea.

The PA is a governing body that has control of parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Abbas met with Macron on the sidelines of the Egyptian summit and discussed the ceasefire agreement, the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip, and the completion of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Emmanuel Macron and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas leave after their meeting on the sideline of the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit. Photograph: Yoan Valat/AFP/Getty ImagesShare

admin-cdn13 October، 2025

0 0 12 minutes read