Released but Banished: The Reality for Palestinian Hostages After the Ceasefire

An international agreement celebrates the release of nearly 2000 hostages, while on the ground, forced exile and accounts of torture complicate the path to peace.

Within the framework of a ceasefire signed on the 13th of October 2025, Israel and Hamas released the last 20 living Israeli hostages in exchange for 1960 Palestinian hostages, in an operation supervised by the Red Cross. This exchange, which brings the total number of Palestinians released to approximately 2000, was the cornerstone of an international peace summit in Egypt, co-chaired by Presidents Abdel Fattah al-Sissi and Donald Trump and attended by more than 20 world leaders and the UN Secretary-General. However, the resulting declaration, signed by international mediators, omitted any mention of the right to a Palestinian state. Neither Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor representatives of Hamas were present.

While leaders were celebrating, the reality on the ground in Palestine was different. On one hand, hundreds of Palestinians were released in the West Bank, where their testimonies began to reveal the horror of torture and inhumane conditions in Israeli prisons. On the other hand, a last-minute decision by Israel altered the fate of more than 154 prisoners, who were exiled to Egypt instead of being returned to their families, turning the hope of hundreds into a heart-wrenching disappointment and revealing that for many, freedom meant banishment far from their land, with no guarantees.

The fragile truce is threatened just one day after the exchange. The Israeli army has killed at least five Palestinians in Gaza, under the pretext that they approached its positions and “crossed the yellow line.” Simultaneously, Netanyahu's government has implemented collective punishments, postponing the opening of the crucial Rafah crossing and limiting humanitarian aid to 300 trucks per day, half of the agreed amount.

These measures, justified by the delay in returning the bodies of hostages, clash with the Red Cross's warning that locating the bodies, many of which are under the rubble of Israeli bombings, requires weeks. This dispute highlights how collective punishment is being prioritized over the needs of a population suffering from famine.

In short, Israel's constant violation of the agreements—with forced exiles, continued bombings, and the strangulation of humanitarian aid—reveals a participant that cannot be trusted. These acts undermine any peace effort, perpetuate injustice against the Palestinian people, and condemn the region to a recurring cycle of instability. The path to a lasting solution is thus undermined, demonstrating that without the fulfillment of commitments and an end to impunity, any truce will be nothing more than a fragile interlude between one war and the next.