Hostages and Palestinian prisoners are freed as Trump hails ‘historic dawn’ in Mideast

Members of the audience wear red caps bearing the words “Trump the Peace President” as they await the arrival of President Donald Trump to address the Knesset, or Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. Trump received applause and cheers on Monday in Israel’s parliament, where he celebrated an initial cease-fire deal in Gaza that he proclaimed was “the end of a war,” despite lingering questions over whether Israel and Hamas can reach a lasting peace. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times)

By DAVID M. HALBFINGER, AARON BOXERMAN, ISABEL KERSHNER, ADAM RASGON, DAVID E. SANGER, ERIKA SOLOMON and LIAM STACK

President Donald Trump celebrated what he called the end of the war in the Gaza Strip on Monday in a lightning tour of the Middle East, as Israel and Hamas exchanged hostages for prisoners in a swap that produced scenes of jubilation and relief from the neat squares of Tel Aviv, Israel, to the ruined cityscape of Gaza.

Trump’s victory lap included a speech to the Israeli parliament, where he received a standing ovation, and a summit in Egypt, where more than a dozen world leaders lined up to praise him for bringing a pause to two years of devastation and bloodshed.

But there remain many unanswered questions about whether Israel and Hamas can reach a lasting peace, and about the future of Gaza, which has been devastated by the war. Among the issues is whether Hamas will disarm, whether the ceasefire will hold, who will pay to rebuild Gaza and who will govern it.

Trump’s trip unfolded against the backdrop of a trade that formed the cornerstone of the peace plan he proposed last month: the exchange of the last 20 hostages to survive two years of captivity in Gaza for 1,968 Palestinian prisoners, including 250 serving life sentences and about 1,700 detained during the war and held without charge. The exchange went smoothly, but what happens next is far from clear.

Trump told Israeli lawmakers that the exchange represented “the historic dawn of a new Middle East,” and then traveled to Egypt, where President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi greeted him at a Red Sea resort. “From the city of Sharm el-Sheikh, the will of the people meets the resolve of world leaders to end the war in Gaza,” el-Sissi said. “They all carry a single message to mankind: Enough war. Welcome to peace.”

At a summit there with the leaders of more than 20 countries and international organizations, Trump signed a document, as did the leaders of Turkey, Egypt and Qatar, who joined with the United States in brokering the exchange. But the contents of the document were not immediately clear, and it was not signed by Israel or Hamas, neither of which had representatives at the meeting.

Earlier at the gathering, Trump shared a long handshake with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, in their first encounter since 2017.

The Trump administration denied Abbas a visa to travel to New York last month for the U.N. General Assembly, leaving him to address the gathering by video link. But at the summit, Trump pointed to Abbas and said, “It’s good to have you.”

The exchanges Monday had been awaited since Hamas militants attacked Israel in October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and abducting about 250. In response, Israel bombed and invaded Gaza, killing about 67,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

Here’s what else to know:

— Relief and hope: The ceasefire and the exchange encouraged both Israelis and Palestinians. “You are coming home!” Einav Zangauker, the mother of Matan Zangauker, 25, said on a video call with her son in Gaza, their first conversation since he was abducted two years ago, according to footage broadcast on Israeli television. But for some Palestinians, the relief was clouded by grief and despair. “There’s nothing to be happy about,” Saed Abu Aita, 44, said. “My two daughters were killed, my home was destroyed and my health has deteriorated.”

— Trump’s Knesset speech: Trump, the first U.S. president to address the Israeli parliament since George W. Bush in 2008, went into lengthy digressions as if delivering a campaign speech, praising Israel and praising his own accomplishments while denigrating his Democratic predecessors, Joe Biden and Barack Obama. He also shattered diplomatic taboos, at one point directly urging Isaac Herzog, Israel’s president, to pardon Netanyahu, who is a defendant in a long-running criminal trial on charges including bribery.

— The logistics: Under the deal reached last week in talks brokered by U.S., Arab and Turkish mediators, Israeli forces withdrew to a new defensive line inside Gaza on Friday, opening a 72-hour window for the hostages to be released.

— Hostages: The agreement requires Hamas to turn over the bodies of at least 26 hostages who died in captivity. Hamas’ armed wing said that it would release the bodies of three Israelis and a Nepalese citizen on Monday. Both Israeli and Hamas officials said it would be difficult for Hamas to gather all of the bodies in the three-day window stipulated by the ceasefire agreement. The Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum, an Israeli advocacy group, accused Hamas of failing to abide by the agreement.

— Aid deliveries: Hours before the first Israeli hostages were released, the United Nations said “real progress” was being made in delivering aid to Gaza, where a U.N.-backed panel of food experts has said that some areas are officially under famine.