the two-year war between Israel and Hamas is one step closer to ending today.
After so many years of unceasing war and endless danger,
today the skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still,
and the sun rises on a holy land that is finally at peace,
a land and a region that will live God willing in peace for all eternity.
So I woke up early morning and went to the Hostage Square in Tel Aviv.
The Orsaroka is a freelance reporter based in Tel Aviv,
who covers Israel and the war in Gaza for the post.
The Hostage Square is a public plaza that has become a gathering point for protests and rallies in the wake of the October 7th attacks in 2023.
For the past two years, this square has been filled mostly with sorrow and tears.
And today it was completely different.
There were like tens of thousands of Israelis there.
You could see people smiling and also crying, but from joy,
celebrating the return of the living hostages to Israel.
On Monday, all 20 living Israeli hostages were released and returned to Israel.
At one point, a helicopter that appeared to be carrying some of the hostages flew over the square.
Laura spoke with several people in the square.
One of them was Aviva Siegel.
She was one of the people taken hostage on October 7th.
She spent 51 days in captivity in Gaza before being released in a previous ceasefire deal.