Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today (Friday, 10 October 2025) in a statement to the press (translated from Hebrew):
“Citizens of Israel,
We mark today one of our tremendous achievements in the War of Redemption: the return of all of the hostages, both the living and the deceased. This is a crucial goal which we have insisted upon throughout the war.
Throughout the two years that have passed since the beginning of the war, I have promised to the families of the hostages – and also promised to you, the citizens of Israel – that we will return everyone, with no exceptions. We made that promise and we are keeping our promise.
I’d like to remind you that there were those who said, in the beginning of the war: “we must get used to the idea that we won’t be able to return even a single hostage alive”.
I thought differently – and I acted differently.
I believed that if we apply heavy military pressure on Hamas, combined with heavy diplomatic pressure, we will indeed be able to return all of our hostages. And that’s exactly what we did.
But I also say to you: it wasn’t easy, to say the least. I had to face enormous pressure, both domestic and foreign: pressure not to go into Rafah, pressure not to capture the Philadelphi Corridor, pressure not to act in other theaters, pressure to stop the war and pull out of the Gaza Strip – while Hamas, Hezbollah, the Assad regime and Iran are all at the peak of their power.
Yet, I steadfastly resisted all that pressure, because my focus was on one single consideration: Israel’s security. That means achieving the aims of the war, including the release of the hostages; removing the nuclear and ballistic missile threats from Iran, which have endangered our existence here; and breaking the Iranian axis, of which Hamas is a central element.
Despite all the pressure I mentioned, we continued to fight in Gaza and continued to fight throughout the region. Before President Trump entered the White House, we returned to Israel 158 hostages, 117 of them – living hostages.
Some of the hostages were released in daring and heroic operations by our forces, which you know and remember, and bow your head in memory of the fallen.
After the start of President Trump’s tenure in the White House, we returned home another 49 living and deceased hostages – ten of them in additional daring operations of our forces. But the hardest challenge of all remained: returning home all the other hostages, 20 living hostages and 28 deceased hostages. And as you will recall: one pundit after another, every evening, every day, explained to us: “There is no way on earth to return the hostages, without acquiescing to the central demand of Hamas – pull out the IDF forces from all of the Gaza Strip, including the perimeter, including the Philadelphi Corridor, including the dominating areas, and everything that entails”.
Here also, I thought differently, and I acted differently.
I knew that if we enter in full force the last remaining Hamas stronghold – Gaza City – and destroy the centers of power within it, Hamas would want to save its regime.
I also believed that if in addition to our massive military pressure, we apply massive diplomatic pressure by our great friend, President Trump – that combination will cause Hamas to return all of our hostages, while the IDF remains deep inside Gaza territory and controls all of its dominating points. And this is what’s happening.
In this manner, we are encircling Hamas from all directions, ahead of the upcoming stages of the plan, in which Hamas will be disarmed, and Gaza will be demilitarized. If this is achieved in the easy way – it’s all for the better. And if not – it will be achieved the hard way.
I wish to make this point as clear as possible: Anyone who says that this hostage deal was always on the table – is simply not telling the truth.
Hamas has never agreed to release all of our hostages while we are inside the Gaza Strip. Hamas only agreed to this deal when it felt the sword on its neck – and the sword remains on its neck.
Hamas agreed to the deal only after the Trump Plan, which I agreed on with the President in Washington, isolated it diplomatically on an unprecedented scale. At the present stage of the plan, our focus is on releasing the hostages.
I must tell you that during the heart-rending meetings with the families of the hostages during the past two years, my wife and I have shed tears. It can’t be any different. The heart is torn, the heart goes out to them.
I have promised to the relatives of the hostages that we will not give up on anyone. And indeed, all of the hostages will be returning to us. In the next few days, God willing, we will bring back all of them.
Alongside the great joy of their return, they will be faced with the difficult task of physical and mental rehabilitation. The entire nation of Israel will embrace them to help them get back on their feet.
The hostages that are deceased will be brought to a proper Jewish burial. We will act to locate all of them as soon as possible – we will do that as a sacred duty of communal responsibility.
Citizens of Israel,
On this emotional day, I recognise our debt of gratitude to our heroic fighters in the IDF and in the security apparatus. Since the outbreak of the war, they report to the various fronts in order to defend our common home. Without the marvellous sacrifice of our soldiers, we could not have the privilege of returning the hostages home.
We embrace the families of the fallen, each family in its own pain, and wish on our dear wounded of this war, in flesh or in spirit, a complete recovery.
I wish to thank President Trump for his global leadership and his relentless efforts to develop this plan for the return of the hostages. On this matter, he again proved his tremendous friendship for our nation and our country.
I thank the envoys of President Trump, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who have done a great deal to reach the agreement for the release of the hostages.
And on our side, a very warm gratitude must go to our head of the negotiation team, Minister Ron Dermer, and the entire negotiation team. They have done dedicated and creative work to bring us this far.
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Citizens of Israel,
Two years ago, the holiday of Simchat Torah turned into a day of national grief. This holiday of Simchat Torah will turn, God willing, into a day of national joy, with the return of all our brothers and sisters taken hostage.
The name of the operation, “Returning Home”, is a paraphrase of the promise given to Our Mother Rachel in the Book of Jeremiah [34:16]: “and your children shall return to their own border”. Our sons and daughters shall return home.
Two years ago, we have emerged from rock bottom – and fought back in kind against our enemies. Owing to your steadfastness and solidarity, citizens of Israel, we have stood through the ordeals.
We have achieved great victories, victories that change the face of the Middle East. But, as the IDF Chief of General Staff has said: the battle isn’t over yet. We still face great challenges, but also great opportunities.
Together, we will overcome the challenges; together, we will fulfil the opportunities; together, we will complete our missions; together, we will expand the circle of peace around us”.