At Last—All Surviving Hostages Return Home

By Joel Hilliker and Mihailo S. Zekic • October 13, 2025

Hamas has released all 20 of the remaining living Israeli hostages it has held in captivity for the past two years. The anguish of uncertainty gripping the nation since these people were stolen during the October 7 attack is finally past. Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square was packed with thousands of onlookers celebrating, crying, sighing relief.

President Trump insists the war is over. He spoke before Israel’s Knesset this morning, saying, “Now at last, not only for Israel but also for Palestinians and many others, the long and painful nightmare is finally over.” He said that as “the day that breaks on a region transformed, … a beautiful and much brighter future appears suddenly within your reach.”
Trump told Axios that this deal “could be the biggest thing I was ever involved in.”

Yet the day is bittersweet. The deal requires Hamas to return the bodies of 28 deceased hostages, including two Americans, but Hamas says it will return only four of them. It claims it doesn’t know where all the bodies are because those responsible for guarding them were killed or the bodies were lost beneath rubble. This detail is being brushed aside amid the jubilation and claims of victory.

More importantly, as part of the deal, Israel is freeing 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,722 Gazans detained since October 7. Many of these people have significant blood on their hands.

One is Iyad Abu al-Rub, leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (pij) in part of the West Bank. He has orchestrated and supervised several high-profile terror attacks, including suicide bombings in 2003, 2004 and 2005 that killed 13 people.
Another is Mahmoud Qawasmeh, a senior Hamas leader who was released in a hostage swap in 2011 and later arrested as part of the Gaza war.
Though not as high-profile as these two, all 250 have been convicted of murder or similar charges.

Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind behind the October 7 terror attack, was released from captivity in the same 2011 swap that Qawasmeh was. Many of the current prisoners have been behind bars for decades and may no longer seem to be severe threats like Sinwar was. But Sinwar, when he was released, wasn’t the mastermind of the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust; he became that. Who is to say some of those being released now won’t follow Sinwar’s path?

Trump is promising a new era of peace. Prime Minister Netanyahu says the nation is on a path to healing. Israel is rejoicing. Sadly, however, the Bible prophesies that today’s hostage swap will bring only temporary relief. It has done nothing to cool the hatred of the Jews’ enemies. Until Israelis learn to trust God and turn to Him, prophecy warns that Israel’s problems with the Palestinians are only getting started.