# Israel and Hamas complete first hostage-prisoner exchange under ceasefire deal
Israel and Hamas carried out the first major exchange under their ceasefire agreement on 2025-10-13, with Hamas freeing all 20 remaining living hostages and Israel releasing more than 1,900 Palestinian detainees, according to the supplied AP report. The exchange marked a significant step in a fragile deal that paused two years of war in Gaza.
The release of the living hostages brought scenes of relief in Israel, where families reunited with men who had spent two years in captivity in Gaza. AP reported that four deceased hostages were also returned to Israel that day, while another 24 were expected to be handed over later as part of the first phase of the agreement.
On the Palestinian side, scores of prisoners arrived in Gaza after being freed from Israeli jails. The AP piece said the exchange included around 250 people serving life sentences for attacks on Israelis, alongside other detainees released as part of the arrangement.
Even as the exchange was carried out, the larger questions behind the ceasefire remained unresolved. The report says issues such as whether Hamas will disarm, who will govern Gaza and how Palestinian statehood might be addressed were still open. Those unresolved points underline how limited the first phase is, despite the emotional weight of the releases.
The war began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, which killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 captives taken into Gaza. Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed more than 67,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are widely treated as a reliable estimate by the United Nations and many independent experts.
The AP report also says U.S. President Donald Trump travelled to the region to celebrate the deal and urged lawmakers to use the moment to pursue broader peace. Israel’s leadership described the agreement as an achievement, even as critics accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of letting the conflict drag on for political reasons.
The exchange was therefore both a breakthrough and a reminder of how much remains unsettled. The most visible and emotional part of the ceasefire happened first. The harder political and security decisions are still ahead.
