The release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees on Wednesday brought mixed emotions across the Middle East. In Tel Aviv's 'hostages square', crowds erupted in cheers as news broke that the first seven hostages kidnapped on 7 October were safe. Chief reporter Dan Boffey described the scene: 'One person told me, "Israel is a place where Jews are meant to be safe, and if these people didn’t come home, then what is the point of Israel?"'
US President Donald Trump, who flew into Israel to address the Knesset, was lauded by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and cheered by the crowd in hostages square. International security correspondent Jason Burke noted: 'It’s pretty clear that nothing would have happened in the last few weeks had Trump not really decided it was going to happen and was going to lean very heavily on Netanyahu.' Trump later continued talks in Egypt, where many world leaders had gathered.
In Ramallah, West Bank, families waited for loved ones to be released from Israeli prisons. Reporter Will Christou described the joy mixed with sorrow, as some expecting family members were instead told they were being sent to Gaza. Yet the ceasefire brought a respite: 'I think people appreciate the chance to breathe, and they’ve needed that over the past two years,' Christou said.
