WASHINGTON (TNND) — After more than 733 days in captivity, the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas since the October 7th, 2023, terror attack may soon be heading home. Their long ordeal — marked by hunger, torture, and isolation — could finally be nearing its end under a White House-brokered peace deal between Israel and Hamas.
“They’ve been held in unimaginable conditions for more than two years,” said Avichai Brodutch, a relative of former hostages. “It’s really hard to believe that this moment is coming. People are actually feeling that they’re going to get their family back — their loved ones, their kids.”
Under the terms of the deal, Hamas has agreed to release all remaining hostages — both the living and the dead — in exchange for a cease-fire and humanitarian aid to Gaza. President Trump, who has made the hostages’ release central to his push for a broader Middle East peace, told reporters the recovery effort is “a complicated process.”
“Getting them is not simple,” Trump said. “Very importantly, the hostages are coming back.”
Scenes of relief and anticipation are unfolding in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square, where families and supporters have gathered nightly for nearly two years and out of the 48 people still believed to be held in Gaza, only about 20 are thought to be alive, according to Israeli officials.
Brodutch’s wife and three children were abducted from their kibbutz on October 7th and freed after 51 days in captivity. But others in his kibbutz are still waiting. Twin brothers Gali and Ziv Berman remain in Gaza. Both are expected to be alive.
“We’re just waiting for them,” Brodutch said. “There’s joy for the progress, but deep inside, we’re still just waiting to see them and to get them back.”
Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Michael Leiter, cautioned that challenges remain. “They’re not the only ones holding the hostages,” Leiter said. “There are multiple terrorist groups involved, and each must be identified and located before everyone can be returned.”
President Trump is expected to travel to the Middle East in the coming days as part of the final phase of negotiations. He says he anticipates all hostages will be released early next week, possibly Monday or Tuesday — a moment families and a nation have been praying for since the day Hamas’s assault changed Israel forever.
