Israel yesterday said that the last 20 surviving hostages returned home after two years in captivity in Gaza, as US President Donald Trump received a standing ovation from Israeli lawmakers after brokering a ceasefire with Hamas.
Trump’s lightning visit to Israel came ahead of a summit in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh cochaired by the US president, who has declared the war in Gaza “over.”
In Tel Aviv, a huge crowd which gathered to support hostage families erupted in joy, tears and song as news broke of the first hostage releases, although the pain for the loss of those who had not survived was palpable.
Photo: AFP
Under the ceasefire deal, Israel is due to release nearly 2,000 prisoners held in its jails.
In the Palestinian city of Ramallah, huge crowds gathered to welcome home the first buses carrying prisoners, with some chanting Allahu akbar, or “God is great,” in celebration.
“Welcome home,” the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a series of social media posts, hailing the return of the hostages.
On Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, Noga shared her pain and joy.
“I’m torn between emotion and sadness for those who won’t be coming back,” she said.
Israel has said it did not expect all of the dead hostages to be returned yesterday.
Under the ceasefire agreement, Hamas is also due to return the bodies of the 27 hostages who died or were killed in captivity, as well as the remains of a soldier killed in 2014 during a previous Gaza conflict.
Among those Israel was due to release in exchange are 250 security detainees, including many convicted of killing Israelis, while about 1,700 were detained by the Israeli army in Gaza during the war.
On Oct. 7, 2023, militants seized 251 hostages during Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel, which led to the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians.
In Gaza, too, the ceasefire has brought relief, but with much of the territory flattened by war, the road to recovery remains long.
“I returned to Sheikh Radwan with my heart trembling,” 38-year-old Fatima Salem said after she returned to her neighborhood in Gaza City. “My eyes kept searching for landmarks I had lost — nothing looked the same, even the neighbors’ houses were gone. Despite the exhaustion and fear, I felt like I was coming back to my safe place. I missed the smell of my home, even if it’s now just rubble. We will pitch a tent next to it and wait for reconstruction.”
Trump’s visit to the Middle East aims to celebrate his role in brokering last week’s ceasefire and hostage release deal, but comes at a precarious time as Israel and Hamas negotiate what comes next.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One at the start of the “very special” visit, Trump brushed off concerns about whether the ceasefire would endure.
“I think it’s going to hold. I think people are tired of it. It’s been centuries,” he said of the fighting.
“The war is over. Okay? You understand that?” the US president added.
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
Taiwan’s economy grew far faster than expected in the first quarter, as booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove a surge in exports, spilling over into investment and consumption, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. GDP growth was 13.69 percent year-on-year during the January-to-March period, beating the DGBAS’ February forecast by 2.23 percentage points and marking the most robust growth in nearly four decades, DGBAS senior official Chiang Hsin-yi (江心怡) told a news conference in Taipei. The result was powered by exports, which remain the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, Chiang said. Outbound shipments jumped 51.12 percent year-on-year to
DELAYED BUT DETERMINED: The president’s visit highlights Taiwan’s right to international engagement amid regional pressure from China President Willaim Lai (賴清德) yesterday arrived in Eswatini, more than a week after his planned visit to Taiwan’s sole African ally was suspended because of revoked overflight permits. “The visit, originally scheduled for April 22, was postponed due to unforeseen external factors,” Lai wrote on social media. “After several days of careful arrangements by our diplomatic and national security teams, we successfully arrived today.” Lai said he looked forward to further deepening Taiwan-Eswatini relations through closer cooperation in the economy, agriculture, culture and education, as well as advancing the nation’s international partnerships. The president was initially scheduled to arrive in time to celebrate
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) yesterday said the US faced a choice between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” with Tehran, after US President Donald Trump disparaged Iran’s latest peace proposal. Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held so far. Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan, but Trump was quick to cast doubt on it. “I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but
RSS