For two years, they have gathered in Hostages Square – parents, brothers, sisters, extended family and friends clutching photographs and signs reading “bring them home”.

They have campaigned, protested and prayed for the return of loved ones taken in the 7 October attacks.

But now the mood has shifted.

The chants of frustration have turned into songs of celebration.

The tears that once fell in despair are now tears of relief.

The square, normally a site of weekly demonstrations, has transformed into a sea of flags.

Gaza: Follow the latest updates

We watched as tens of thousands packed into this area of Tel Aviv to witness a moment many feared might never come – the homecoming of the remaining hostages.

Every few minutes, the massive video screens behind the stage beamed new images – exhausted but smiling hostages embracing their families.

Each clip is met with a roar of applause – the atmosphere is one of sheer elation, it is electric.

When helicopters pass overhead, ferrying freed captives to nearby hospitals, the crowd erupts again and again, looking upwards to the sky in awe at the impossible that’s now been made possible.

The sense of catharsis here is palpable – at last some closure after a nightmare two years and a chance for the healing process of a nation to begin.

But beneath the jubilation, there’s a deep well of sorrow – and reckoning.

The 7 October massacre was the deadliest single-day attack on Israel since the nation’s founding in 1948 – an event that upended the country’s sense of safety and unity.

More than 1,000 were killed that day, and hundreds were taken into Gaza.

For the families who never stopped fighting for their return, this is both an ending and a beginning.

Now that the living hostages are home, attention turns to those who did not survive.

Officials say the process of identifying and repatriating remains will take time – and for some families, closure still remains heartbreakingly out of reach.

But the questions that linger extend far beyond grief.

Read more:
Drones capture staggering images of Gaza devastation
Hostages released under Gaza ceasefire deal

In the days and weeks ahead, the Israeli government faces intense scrutiny.

How could the country’s fabled intelligence and defence apparatus fail so catastrophically?

And what accountability, if any, will fall on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has faced mounting criticism over both the failures leading up to the attack and the protracted efforts to secure the hostages’ release?

This is a nation rejoicing, but also searching for answers.

For now, though, the families in this square are holding tight to one immutable positive – after more than two long years, the living hostages, at least, are finally home.

Drones have been a common sight in Gaza for a long time, but they have always been military.

The whine of a drone is enough to trigger fear in many within the enclave.

But now, drones are delivering something different – long, lingering footage of the devastation that has been wreaked on Gaza. And the images are quite staggering.

Gaza latest: Chants of ‘thank you Trump’ in Hostages Square

Whole city blocks reduced to rubble. Streets destroyed. Towns where the landscape has been wholly redesigned.

Decapitated tower blocks and whole areas turned into black and white photographs, where there is no colour but only a palette of greys – from the dark hues of scorched walls to the lightest grey of the dust that floats through the air.

And everywhere, the indistinct dull grey of rubble – the debris of things that are no longer there.

The joy that met the ceasefire has now changed into degrees of anxiety and shock.

Gaza is full of people who are returning to their homes and hoping for good news. For a lucky few, fortune is kind, but for most, the news is bad.

Umm Firas has been displaced from her home in Khan Younis for the past five months. She returned today to the district she knew so well. And what she found was nothing.

“This morning we returned to our land, to see our homes, the neighbourhoods where we once lived,” she says.

“But we found no trace of any houses, no streets, no neighbourhoods, no trees. Even the crops, even the trees – all of them had been bulldozed. The entire area has been destroyed.

“There used to be more than 1,750 houses in the block where we lived, but now not a single one remains standing. Every neighbourhood is destroyed, every home is destroyed, every school is destroyed, every tree is destroyed. The area is unliveable.

“There’s no infrastructure, no place where we can even set up a tent to sit in. Our area, in downtown Khan Younis used to be densely populated. Our homes were built right next to each other. Now there is literally nowhere to go.

“Where can we go? We can’t even find an empty spot to pitch our tent over the ruins of our own homes. So we are going to have to stay homeless and displaced.”

Read more from Sky News:
Nova festival survivor dies two years after girlfriend killed
Could the Gaza deal lead to something even bigger?

It is a story that comes up again and again. One man says that he cannot even reach his house because it is still too near the Israeli military officers stationed in the area.

Another, an older man whose bright pink glasses obscure weary eyes, says there is “nothing left” of his home “so we are leaving it to God”.

“I’m glad we survived and are in good health,” he says, “and now we can return there even if it means we need to eat sand!”

The bulldozers have already started work across the strip, trying to clear roads and allow access. Debris is being piled into huge piles, but this is a tiny sticking plaster on a huge wound.

The more you see of Gaza, the more impossible the task seems of rebuilding this place. The devastation is so utterly overwhelming.

Bodies are being found in the rubble while towns are full of buildings that have been so badly damaged they will have to be pulled down.

Humanitarian aid is needed urgently, but, for the moment, the entry points remain closed. Charities are pleading for access.

It is, of course, better for people to live without war than with it. Peace in Gaza gifts the ability to sleep a little better and worry a little less. But when people do wake up, what they see is an apocalyptic landscape of catastrophic destruction.

Israel says Hamas has handed over the first seven hostages to the Red Cross to be released as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal.

The remaining Israeli hostages are being released by Hamas after being held in Gaza for more than two years, in exchange for over 1,900 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

The Red Cross will drive the hostages to Israeli security forces, who will take them into Israel, where they will be reunited with family and flown by helicopter to hospitals.

Follow the latest updates here

Tens of thousands of Israelis watched the transfers at public screenings across the country.

The families and friends of hostages broke out into cheers as Israeli TV channels announced the hostages were in the hands of the Red Cross.

Israel previously said that of the 251 initially taken captive in Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack, 20 of the hostages that remained in Gaza were thought to be alive, 26 were presumed dead, and the fate of two was unknown.

The 20 hostages are all men aged between 20 and 48, who have spent more than two years in captivity.

As part of the first phase of US President Donald Trump‘s ceasefire agreement, Hamas was given 72 hours to release all the Israeli hostages, alive and dead.

The agreed ceasefire started at midday local time (10am UK time) on Friday, with tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians moving back towards northern Gaza, which was mostly destroyed by Israel.

Read more:
Inside rooms where hostages will spend first nights of freedom
Britain has been playing a role behind scenes of Trump’s deal

👉 Follow Trump100 on your podcast app 👈

Who are the hostages to be freed?

Hamas has released a list of the 20 living hostages it will free. Tap on their pictures to read more about them:

Once all the hostages are released, Israel is expected to free 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and 1,700 Gazans detained after the 7 October attacks.

A second phase of the plan, which all sides have yet to agree on, could see Israeli troops further withdrawing from Gaza.

Trump says ‘war is over’

Mr Trump boarded Air Force One in Washington on Sunday to fly to Israel.

“The war is over,” he said. Asked about prospects for the region, he added: “I think it’s going to normalise.”

The US president will receive a hero’s welcome when he addresses Israel’s parliament on Monday. He will be awarded Israel’s highest civilian honour later this year, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.

Israel invaded Gaza in retaliation, with airstrikes and ground assaults devastating much of the enclave, killing more than 67,000, according to its Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half of those killed were women and children.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.