Every living hostage came home

Edan Alexander grew up in New Jersey. He was serving in the Israeli army on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas took him into Gaza. On May 12, 2025, after more than 19 months and a deal negotiated between the Trump administration and Hamas, he walked out, the last American hostage known to be alive there.

Parents of teenagers know the porch-light rule. The light stays on until the last kid is home. Nobody sleeps well, and nobody turns it off early because most of the family made it in.

For two years, a whole country kept its porch light on. Of the 251 people taken into Gaza on Oct. 7, 48 were still there in October 2025, and 20 of them were alive.

The morning they came home

On Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, Hamas handed all 20 to the Red Cross. In exchange, Israel agreed to free about 1,950 Palestinian prisoners. The Israeli army put it in one line: "There are no more living Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity." President Trump landed in Israel that morning, met hostage families and addressed the Knesset.

The deal came from his 20-point plan, which the UN Security Council endorsed in November 2025 by a vote of 13 to 0, with China and Russia abstaining. On Jan. 22, 2026, the President ratified the Board of Peace he chairs. Four days later, Israeli troops recovered the body of police officer Ran Gvili, the last hostage in Gaza, and the porch lights could finally go off. In February, 40 countries joined the board's first meeting.

What hasn't happened yet

Peace is more than a ceasefire, and on that the plan's critics are right. Hamas has not disarmed. Israel has not pulled back as far as the plan called for. The international stabilization force has not deployed, and the Palestinian committee meant to run Gaza is still working from Cairo. Israeli strikes continue, and the UN aid agency, citing local health authorities, counts 1,394 Palestinians killed since the ceasefire.

Every one of those deaths is a grief. They are also about 2% of the 73,914 deaths the same authorities count since the war began. The killing has not stopped, but its pace has fallen to a small fraction of what it was. And in July 2026, Hamas accepted a disarmament roadmap through the Board of Peace; Israel has not signed it, and the board reportedly expects little movement before Israel's Oct. 27 election. The board has a plan and pledges of about $7 billion, but not much has been rebuilt yet.

No family is waiting up for a captive tonight. For two years that was the one thing no one could fix, and now the porch lights are off.