Gaza Has Returned all Hostages to Israel, What Happens Next?

Courtesy of AP News, Abdel Kareem Hana.

On October 9, 2025, Israeli forces agreed to a ceasefire agreement with Hamas after 15 months of devastating war in the Gaza strip. The ceasefire terms established a temporary pause in fighting, negotiated by US, Egyptian, Turkish and Qatari officials in Egypt. President Donald Trump released a statement along with Qatari, Turkish and Egyptians officials calling for "tolerance, dignity, and equal opportunity for every person”.

This US-brokered ceasefire followed the failure of the January 2025 ceasefire, which was broken by Israel after launching deadly airstrikes, killing 400 Palestinians in the process.

There are 3 phases to the ceasefire agreement – ceasefire and initial relief, continued calm and  further negotiations, and lastly reconstruction. The first phase, which is arguably the most critical, is Israel's withdrawal from the ‘yellow line', an increase in humanitarian aid trucks, and an exchange of prisoners between Israel and Gaza. The ‘yellow line’ refers to a demarcation line drawn by Israel that divides Gaza into 2 zones; the eastern area which acts as an Israeli military zone from which Palestinians are barred from access, and the western area,  where Palestinians were forced to after being displaced from their homes. The term calls for an end to constant displacement. The yellow line acts as a powerful and de-facto border that leaves Israel in control of nearly 60% of Gaza.

The second term of the first phase is the increase in humanitarian aid, with Hamas calling for 600 trucks to enter the strip everyday. Hamas officials said “Israel must complete the implementation of all the provisions of the ceasefire agreement without any deduction or delay, and comply with all the obligations arising from it.” As of January 2026, approximately 230 trucks have entered daily, well below the amount settled upon.

The situation in Gaza remains dire. Millions are in urgent need of humanitarian aid due to the Israeli destruction of the Rafah crossing border in 2024. The Rafah crossing is the sole crossing point for Palestinians to a country other than Israel, and was previously categorized by former President Joe Biden as a “red line,” and a clear act of provocation if Israeli forces were to invade – which occurred in May of 2024.

The last term of the first phase of the ceasefire is the exchange of hostages and detainees. Following the October 7 attacks on Israel, Hamas took 251 hostages, both living and deceased. Israeli forces have been carpet bombing Gaza for 15 months in an effort to get their hostages back, while Hamas also asserts that their aim was to get their hostages from Israel back.As of February 14, 2026, approximately 10,000 Palestinians were reportedly in Israeli custody, including 400 children and 3,498 held under administrative detention without charge or trial.

On October 13, Israel released 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 20 Israeli hostages released from Gaza city as per the ceasefire agreement. The remains of the last hostage in the Gaza Strip, Ran Gvili, were finally recovered by the Israeli military, with the help of Hamas who “exhausted all efforts to locate Gvili and had turned over information about the body’s potential location to Israel.” Following intensive forensic testing, his body was found in a cemetery in Northern Gaza after being identified by his teeth. Ran Gvili was a 24 year old Israeli police officer who was stationed near Gaza. He was on medical leave and was one of the 251 Israelis taken hostage by Hamas. He was received by family, friends, and military officials to pay their respects upon his arrival to Israel. The return of Gvili back to Israel indicates that all 251 hostages that were held in Gaza have been accounted for, either alive or deceased. 

This is a hopeful stage for Palestinians who believe this will pave the way for the opening of the Rafah crossing which acts as a lifeline to the world. This also will close the first phase of the ceasefire agreement and bring about the second phase which is about furthering negotiations to rebuild Gaza. Even during the ceasefire agreement, however, bombs have not stopped falling on Gaza as Israel has continued to violate the ceasefire. From October 10, 2025 to February 10, 2026,  the ceasefire agreement was violated 1,620 times by Israel by way of “ air, artillery and direct shootings,” reported by the Government Media Office in Gaza.

The agreement is extremely conditional and fragile, as its success relies on both Israel and Hamas’s willingness to cooperate with the terms of the deal. If governments fail to keep their promises, ceasefire deals risk raising hopes of millions of impoverished civilians, only to leave them vulnerable to renewed violence.