Morning of Hope: Witnessing the Hostage Release at Hostage Square

On October 7, 2023, a horrific massacre occurred in the south of Israel when Hamas terrorists crossed from Gaza, killing more than a thousand people and taking about 250 people hostage. Since the attack, the deadliest in Israel's history, the country has carried the weight of that day, from the grief and the anger over those lost, either murdered or kidnapped, to the collective hope for the day the hostages would return home.

On October 8, 2025, the news finally arose about the peace agreement between Israel and Hamas, and the return of the hostages.

Israel is a very small country with a tight sense of community. People are just a few degrees of separation from each other (ranging from two to four or five, depending on who you ask, but well below the six in the famous theory). That being said, everyone has been affected by the October 7th massacre and the ensuing war in some way, whether it's through personal grief, a family member going into reserve duty, or knowing someone who has lost someone. In this way, there has been a national grief. There have been rallies to support the families, and rallies and protests to put weight on the government to bring the hostages home.

There are signs, banners, stickers, and art installments all over the nation memorializing those lost on October 7th. From bus stops to highways to barber shops, you cannot escape the reminder of the holes in people's hearts.

In a plaza in Tel Aviv, called Hostage Square, families and friends of the hostages have gathered for support for the past two years. Hostage Square became an official but non-governmental memorial, where rallies and protests, heart-wrenching Oct. 7th art tributes, and religious ceremonies have taken place to support the families in their attempts to put pressure on the government.

Without the hostages returned, grief in Israel was at a sort of standstill. I spoke with an Israeli friend recently about the mood shift in Israel over the last year, from the deep sadness I experienced in a visit in June 2024 to the increased anger toward the government I felt in the air in August 2025. I compared it to the five stages of grief. My friend responded, "I never thought of it that way. But how can we even go through the stages of grief, let alone get to acceptance, if we are still at war?"

And what would end the war? The return of the hostages. And for many, also, the promise that the people in Israel will not be in constant threat of another terrorist attack at the hands of Hamas ever again.

However, regardless of the complicated political beliefs in Israel, where the diversity of the people lends to an incredulous range of politics, there has existed for two years the great matter of filling the hole in the national heart.

Of 251 hostages,160 were returned alive and 15 dead, 51 bodies were recovered by Israeli forces, and eight hostages were rescued alive, prior to Oct. 15, 2025. It is worth noting that, although most of those murdered and kidnapped were Israeli, there were also a large number of foreign nationals of 41nationalities, including Thai, Nepalese, American, British, French, German, Tanzanian, Ukrainian, Russian, and Filipino. (Currently, the bodies of two Thai and one Tanzanian are still missing in Gaza, and a Nepalese was one of the hostages returned on Monday.) As of Oct. 13, 2025, 20 living hostages remained.

On Oct. 13, 2025, at 5:45 AM, I visited Hostage Square to witness and record the momentous moment of the hostages' return.

In the days leading up to this moment, the mood of Israelis was cautious optimism. Hopes were high, but there was a caution of jinxing it. "Tomorrow morning will be a really historic moment," one Israeli friend told me. "I hope it goes smoothly." The fear of something going wrong at the last minute and an acute awareness of all the possibilities of failure had space in our minds. Worries about the peace deal and the political implications of it were discussed with me by random strangers and friends alike. The nation held its breath.

On Oct. 12th, a post went viral in Tel Aviv about an all-night gathering at Hostage Square in anticipation of the hostage release.

The first hostages were expected to leave Gaza between 6 and 7 AM. Arriving close to 6 AM, I found myself in a large crowd, a blend of people who'd been present since sunset, many of them sleeping, and others who had arrived recently. At one end of the square was a massive clock, counting the time to the second that the hostages had been kept, and beside it, a large screen playing videos, a blend of recordings of the hostages, of their families and friends, and of breaking news reports.

Around the square, there was a tenseness and hope. People played the piano that had been set up in honor of Alon Ohel, a pianist who was taken hostage by Hamas. People decorated signs on the floor nearby the merchandise shops that the hostage's families had set up a couple years ago. All the yellow chairs, which had for years been empty in honor of the hostages, were now being carried from their art exhibition to the square. Those seats were finally being filled by people.

I heard various languages around me -- Hebrew, English, Spanish, Russian, French. As the morning went on, more and more people filled into the square, and more and more global reporters, cameras from numerous countries. My friends were interviewed by CNN and NPR, as well as outlets from Australia and Brazil.

A woman who received a lot of attention was Hila Galili, the Artivist, who was dressed like an Israeli Lady Liberty, complete with a Star of David crown, and a closed zipper over her mouth. She held a sign thanking Trump, featuring the names of the 20 hostages being saved by the peace agreement. In a box below the sign was an enormous golden ring she'd made of plastic, bearing the words on the interior, in Hebrew, "He who saves just one life saves an entire world."

Each individual is a world, according to Talmudic Jewish belief, and because of that every individual comes with a deal of nuance, Donald Trump included. In Israel, he is seen as the only person in the world to be able to secure the release of the hostages and end the war, and for that an immense amount of gratitude is rewarded. Before that, he was seen as a great friend for ending the 12-Day War with Iran. Well before that, a year ago, I'd debated my personal stance on Trump with an Israeli who could see my concerns of authoritarianism but debated, "Even if so, he's the first authoritarian to not hate Jews."

Imagining what it would be like to be at Hostage Square that morning, I had expected eruptions of cheers and boisterousness, but the mood was more peaceful. Not somber or serious or solemn, but tranquil, relieved, like our hearts were opening up with each release and each confirmation of a safe person.

There was a song that played frequently from the booming speakers of the ongoing video, a soundtrack with a driving force of an orchestra. At the beginning of the morning, it felt nerve-wracking and anxious. Later, once the first seven hostages were in safe hands, out of Gaza, when the song came on again, it had a whole different feeling -- of hope, of finality, of eventuality present. Other songs played between the previously recorded videos and between the breaking news, which often involved family members of hostages sharing news about how they'd spoken with their loved ones and how they were doing or how they looked. On repeat were "I'm Coming Home" by Skylar Grey and "HaBayta" -- specifically, this version of this powerful song.

The morning was marked by tears, relief, smiles, hugs, love, togetherness. (I personally hugged three strangers that morning.) I also came across other Masa fellows from Rishon LeZion and Bat Yam who were present that morning, wearing a combination of Israeli flags, American flags, and even a Trump kippah, which you have undoubtedly seen if you've been to a shuk in Israel these past few years, but which now has a very different context to it, given the events of this year.

Everyone asks now, "How do we move forward?" I don't know the answer to that, but I do believe it's incredibly important to process this historic moment in which the living hostages have come back home. We now feel that this hole in our hearts is filled, and we can shuffle our feet forward in recovery.

In a country, let alone region, with so much trauma and constant intensity and uncertainty, it would be so easy to give up and fall into despair. Let us reflect on the beauty of the strength, resilience, and most importantly, HOPE, that has led us to this rare, peaceful moment. And let us hope that more peace befalls our footsteps in the near future.

Want to witness even more photos? View the entire Google Drive folder here.