As early as the previous evening, thousands of people began gathering at Hostages Square, the name given after October 7, 2023 to the area near the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Those who came hung up notes with wishes for people returning home after two years in Hamas captivity.
Early on the morning of October 13, residents again came to the square to wait together for the release. People sang songs about coming home, opened champagne, embraced one another and cried. When the broadcast showed that Donald Trump had landed in Israel, the crowd responded with applause.
On Thursday evening, the crowd was addressed by US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, adviser Jared Kushner and Trump’s daughter Ivanka. They were greeted with ovations and shouts of thanks.
But the mood changed when Witkoff, while listing those involved in the agreement, reached the name of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: his remarks were interrupted by disapproving shouts from the crowd.
Relatives of the freed hostages met them near the Re’im military base close to the Gaza Strip. Dozens of Israelis were also there to support the former captives and their families.
Hamas handed the released hostages over to the International Committee of the Red Cross, after which the Israeli military took them and brought them to hospitals in Israel for medical examinations. During the handover, militants arranged video calls with relatives, but the Israelis were only able to briefly tell their families that they were “okay.”
The hostages were dressed in imitation military uniforms, even though the overwhelming majority of them were not service members on October 7, 2023.