Reuters World News - Trump, Middle East and hostages

Episode Date: October 13, 2025

All the remaining living Israeli hostages have been handed over by Hamas in Gaza, with nearly 2,000 being released in return. U.S. President Donald Trump says the “war is over” ahead of addressing Israel’s Knesset. Next, he will join world leaders in Egypt to sign the peace agreement. Plus, U.S.-China tariffs set to dominate World Bank and IMF talks in Washington D.C. Follow the latest developments in Gaza, israel and Egypt here. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, I'm Kim Vinal in Wanganui, New Zealand. It's Monday, October 13th. Today, Jubilation in Israel as hostages from Gaza return home. U.S. President Donald Trump makes an historic address to the Knesset before overseeing a summit of world leaders in Egypt to sign phase one of the Gaza ceasefire deal. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. Israeli hostages finally returning home after two years in captivity in Gaza. The 20 surviving hostages released in three groups

to cheering in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square, the Israeli army releasing the first photos of some of the freed hostages. Aynab Zangaka talks to Her San Matan for the first time in two years, on a video call. She's telling him the war is over and he's on his way home. Israel is expected to release hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank today. And another 28 Israeli hostages, 26 of whom are dead and two whose fate is unknown,

are expected to be released today. U.S. President Donald Trump touched down at Ben-Gurion Airport this morning, and we talked to Mayan Lou Bell, Israel correspondent, as Trump headed to Jerusalem to meet hostage families and address the Israeli Knesset. The U.S. President Donald Trump landed in Israel shortly after the first group of hostages was released. Israel has begun releasing close to 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners from its jails. Most of them are going to be released into Gaza and some more to the Occupied West Bank. Others will be deported.

The hostage return marked the beginning of something of a victory tour for Trump. who helped broker the ceasefire, which led to the release, beginning with an historic visit to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, where he received a hero's welcome, with a standing ovation, which lasted several minutes. Some in the chamber wearing red caps and blazoned with the words, Trump, the peace president. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the day a new beginning.

The next stop for Trump will be a summit of more than 20, 20 world leaders and the signing of the deal done so far in Egypt's Shamal Sheikh. But key details of what comes next remain unresolved. The next phase of Trump's peace plan involves a board of peace, an international body led by Trump himself to help oversee Gaza's post-war administration. But who will govern Gaza and what happens to Hamas, which refuses to disarm, is still up in the air. Hamas says it'll deploy security for.

forces in areas vacated by Israel, and it's not known if militants will return and move Israel may see as provocation. As the ceasefire part of the deal continues to hold, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are returning to what's left of their homes. Like 60-year-old Nail Abbas, who walked for hours to go back to his house in Gaza City, only to find it flattened. questioning now whether to sleep on the rubble. His family of 11 have nowhere else to go. Nail Bo says he is happy to be alive. Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz,

warned before the hostage release that once they were back, the military will destroy Hamas' underground tunnel network. It remains to be seen how international backers of the deal, including President Trump, may respond if that goes ahead. To some other news now, Finance ministers from around the world are in Washington this week for the annual World Bank and IMF meetings. Global uncertainty has eased a bit since April, but as Reuters' economics editor Dan Burns puts it,

the list of worries is still long. And topping that list, Trump's latest threat are 100% tax on Chinese imports. I think the mood is going to be a little bit different from what it was six months ago. just a week or two after Trump had shocked the world with his Liberation Day tariff announcements and stock markets were reeling and bond markets were reeling. And it was a moment of really intense uncertainty. Then things got put on pause and over the course of several months, a number of different tariff agreements and announcements have been made.

And while they haven't stopped in their entirety, as we've seen with Trump unveiling a new set of threats, against China. The overall uncertainty level is certainly diminished, and the global economy has proven to be pretty resilient in the face of all that. There's always a backdrop of global angst about things that aren't purely economic. We still have a war raging in Europe. And then there's also concerns about basic stuff that we've been fretting about for some time that are on a low boil, and maybe that boil is getting a little farmer, and that's things like the levels of debt among sovereign countries like the United States in particular with its $38 trillion

of debt. So those are things that continue to be in the background as concerns, part of ongoing conversations. But it's not going to be, we think, quite as intense a level of anxiety that we saw just six months ago. Tensions are flaring on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border with deadly clashes killing dozens of fighters on both sides. the worst fighting since the Taliban took power in Kabul.

Pakistan has now closed key border crossings and sporadic gunfire continues in some areas. More than 40 people have been killed in Mexico after days of heavy rains and flooding across five states. Turential rains from tropical storms Priscilla and Raymond also triggered landslides. President Claudia Shinebaum says the government is supporting more than 130 affected towns.

And for today's recommended read, stick with the Reuters Live page throughout the day for all of the latest developments in Israel, Gaza and Egypt. For more on any of the stories from today, you can check out Reuters.com and the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favourite podcast player. If you're listening on a smart speaker,

just ask for the latest news from Reuters seven days a week. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.