After two years of anguish, Israelis and Palestinians both experienced moments of joy Monday as jubilant crowds welcomed home loved ones, two years on from the Oct. 7 attacks.
On a day filled with hope and celebration in Israel, families greeted their returning relatives with trembling hands and cries of elation.
In Gaza, buses carrying Palestinians released from Israeli prisons arrived outside Nasser hospital in Khan Younis. Leaning from the windows, the passengers smiled and waved to cheering crowds eagerly awaiting their return.
As part of the ceasefire agreement, Israel released 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and more than 1,700 Palestinians detained after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel.
In exchange, Hamas pledged to release all Israeli hostages, dead or alive. All 20 living hostages have now been safely returned to Israel — although so far the remains of just four dead hostages have been repatriated.
In Hostage Square, a public plaza in Tel Aviv that became a site of hostage families' demonstrations, crowds swelled to an estimated 100,000 people on Monday. They cheered as images of the first released hostages appeared on a giant screen alongside interviews with family members.
The square fell silent as people listened to the relief and happiness of those seeing their loved ones alive for the first time in years.
As the last 20 living hostages held in Gaza were returned, the road near Reim military base in the south of the country was lined with people. Israelis waved to a helicopter, believed to be carrying the newly released hostages.
Avinatan Or, 32, and Noa Argamani were both abducted on Oct. 7 — video seen around the world showed her being taken away on a motorcycle, while Or was forcibly held by a group of men.
The footage made Argamani one of the most recognizable faces of the Hamas operation before she was rescued in an Israel Defense Forces operation in June 2024.
On Monday, Avinatan was released and the couple were seen finally reunited, embracing tightly and sharing joyful, emotional moments.
In Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, family members welcomed released Palestinian prisoners returning from Israeli jails. Smiles spread across faces as people finally saw their loved ones safe and sound.
Guy Gilboa-Dalal, 24, was kidnapped at the Nova music festival along with his friend Evyatar David. He has now been freed and returned to Israel, where he waived a flag to supporters outside Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, Israel.
It has been just over two years since the Oct. 7 attack, when Hamas-led fighters carried out a coordinated assault on Israel, killing around 1,200 people and abducting approximately 250.
In retaliation, the Israel Defense Forces launched a ground invasion of Gaza, triggering a severe humanitarian crisis. More than 67,000 people in the enclave have been killed, with many more injured or displaced, according to health officials in Gaza.
