The remaining living Israeli hostages are being freed by Hamas this morning – with Donald Trump due in Israel to mark the moment. The US president and other world leaders are gathering in Egypt for a “signing ceremony” to mark the Gaza peace plan later today. Follow live below.
Monday 13 October 2025 07:19, UK
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Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy has praised the UK in a social media post – seemingly looking to draw a line under a row which erupted yesterday after an interview on Sky News.
Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, called education secretary Bridget Phillipson “delusional” after she told Sky News the UK played a key role in the Gaza peace deal.
But Witkoff’s post in the last few minutes on X said:
I would like to acknowledge the vital role of the United Kingdom in assisting and coordinating efforts that have led us to this historic day in Israel. In particular, I want to recognize the incredible input and tireless efforts of National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell.
Witkoff spoke in Tel Aviv at the weekend ahead of today’s hostages release – catch up on that moment below.
An Israeli military source has told Reuters that the first seven hostages released under the first phase of the Gaza peace deal have now been handed over by the Red Cross.
Israeli forces will now take them to the Re’im base in southern Israel, where they will be reunited with their families.
Donald Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt has shared a picture on social media from Air Force One showing live news coverage of the hostages being released.
Karoline Leavitt wrote “history in the making”, with the US presidential plane due to touch down in Israel shortly.
We’ve just had this picture come in, showing the Red Cross convoy transporting the first seven hostages through Gaza to areas of Israeli control.
Israel’s military has confirmed that seven hostages have been transferred over to the Red Cross (see our 6.15 post for more details).
In a statement, it says the hostages are on their way to Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.
It adds that forces are prepared to receive additional hostages who are expected to be transferred to the Red Cross later on.
Once Israel has confirmed all hostages have crossed the border, the agreement states Israel will then release 250 Palestinians serving life sentences and more than 1,700 detained since the October 7 attacks.
An official involved in the operation told Reuters that the 1,700+ detainees will be released at Gaza’s Nasser Hospital.
Meanwhile, the 250 Palestinians serving life sentences are expected to be released to the West Bank, Jerusalem and abroad.
The official added that all those scheduled for release have boarded buses at Israeli prisons.
Hamas has adapted to survive before and will do so again as its ceasefire deal with Israel develops, a foreign policy expert has said.
Speaking to our lead world news presenter Yalda Hakim, Harley Lippman says Hamas achieved its three main goals from the war in Gaza – the release of political prisoners, putting the Palestinian issue “on the front page all over the world” and disrupting the relationship between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Asked if the ceasefire will hold and whether phase two of the agreement will get off the ground, Lippman says: “I think it will. As you can see, there’s huge momentum. Already seven hostages have been released.
“This is considered the near miracle by almost everyone, and I think everybody’s very aligned, everybody’s working the backrooms to make this work.
“It’s going to be very difficult, the next phases, because it goes to interpretation of the agreement. Remember, Hamas still bristles at the notion of disarming, so what they’ll probably do is hide weapons. They may give up some, but it’s there.
“But Hamas is not like ISIS – Hamas will adjust and adapt. They’ve even said it. They’ll participate in a political process. They’re very unusual that way.
“They know what they need to do for the moment is to adjust to the new reality. They’ve done it before. So while they may be down, as the expression goes, they’re far from out.”
Over at the Re’im base in southern Israel (pinpointed in the map in our previous post), people have been waving Israeli flags and cheering after the news emerged of the first seven hostages being transferred to the Red Cross.
As we’ve been explaining, Israeli forces will take the hostages to the base, where they will be reunited with their families.
Now that the release of hostages has started, the Red Cross will take them to Israeli-controlled parts of Gaza and transfer them over to Israeli forces.
But what happens from that point? We’ve broken down it down below:
Seven hostages have been transferred over to the Red Cross in Gaza, according to reports in Hebrew media.
The reports say the seven are:
The announcement was met with a cheer by crowds in Hostages Square.
The Red Cross vehicles will now head to Israeli-controlled parts of Gaza and transfer the hostages over to Israeli forces.
From there, the hostages will be taken to the Rei’im base in southern Israel where they will be reunited with their families.
Scroll through the 20 living hostages we’re expecting to be released by Hamas this morning.
Alex Rossi, our international correspondent, says there will be a “period of reflection” in Israel once the hostages have been returned.
Speaking to our lead world news presenter Yalda Hakim in Tel Aviv, looking out at what has become known as Hostages Square in the Israeli city, Rossi says there will be a hugely symbolic moment later – when a clock in the square which has been running since October 7 2023 is stopped at last.
In the coming days and weeks, Rossi predicts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will face more questions about accusations he has kept the war going for his own political benefit. Netanyahu denies these of course, Rossi adds.
Rossi says there will be questions from many about why this moment of joy with the hostages being released did not come sooner.
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