All 20 remaining living hostages held in Gaza have been released and returned to Israel under a U.S.-brokered ceasefire, marking a pivotal moment after two years of war.

Under the same agreement, Hamas is set to return the bodies of 28 deceased hostages still in Gaza.

In exchange, Israel has begun freeing 250 Palestinian prisoners serving long or life sentences, along with more than 1,700 detainees from Gaza who had been held without charge since the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks.

U.S. President Donald Trump, addressing Israel’s parliament on Monday, hailed the hostage release as evidence of “a region transformed,” calling it “the beginning of a new Middle East.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump as “the greatest friend Israel has ever had.”

Trump’s hour-long speech, which frequently departed from his prepared remarks, included an unexpected call for Israel’s President Isaac Herzog to issue a pardon for Netanyahu amid his ongoing legal troubles, CNN has reported.

The U.S. president closed his address with a vision of regional unity, declaring, “New bonds of friendship, cooperation and commerce will join Tel Aviv to Dubai, Haifa to Beirut, Jerusalem to Damascus.”