Address to the Nation
on the Return of Hostages Held by Hamas
delivered 10
September 2025
[AS TRANSCRIBED FROM THE HEBREW BY THE GOVERNMENT OF
ISRAEL]
Citizens
of
Israel,
We mark today one of our tremendous achievements in the War of Redemption: the
return of all of the hostages, both the living and the deceased. This is a
crucial goal which we have insisted upon throughout the war.
Throughout the two years that have passed since the beginning of the war, I have
promised to the families of the hostages -- and also promised to you, the
citizens of Israel -- that we will return everyone, with no exceptions. We made
that promise and we are keeping our promise.
I'd like to remind you that there were those who said, in the beginning of the
war: "We must get used to the idea that we won't be able to return even a single
hostage alive."
I thought differently -- and I acted differently.
I believed that if we apply heavy military pressure on Hamas, combined with
heavy diplomatic pressure, we will indeed be able to return all of our hostages.
And that's exactly what we did.
But I also say to you: it wasn't easy, to say the least. I had to face enormous
pressure, both domestic and foreign: pressure not to go into Rafah, pressure not
to capture the Philadelphi Corridor, pressure not to act in other theaters,
pressure to stop the war and pull out of the Gaza Strip -- while Hamas,
Hezbollah, the Assad regime and Iran are all at the peak of their power.
Yet, I steadfastly resisted all that pressure, because my focus was on one
single consideration: Israel's security. That means achieving the aims of the
war, including the release of the hostages; removing the nuclear and ballistic
missile threats from Iran, which have endangered our existence here; and
breaking the Iranian axis, of which Hamas is a central element.
Despite all the pressure I mentioned, we continued to fight in Gaza and
continued to fight throughout the region. Before President Trump entered the
White House, we returned to Israel 158 hostages, 117 of them -- living hostages.
Some of the hostages were released in daring and heroic operations by our
forces, which you know and remember, and bow your head in memory of the fallen.
After the start of President Trump's tenure in the White House, we returned home
another 49 living and deceased hostages -- ten of them in additional daring
operations of our forces. But the hardest challenge of all remained: returning
home all the other hostages, 20 living hostages and 28 deceased hostages. And as
you will recall: one pundit after another, every evening, every day, explained
to us:
There is no way on earth to return the hostages, without acquiescing to
the central demand of Hamas -- pull out the IDF forces from all of the Gaza
Strip, including the perimeter, including the Philadelphi Corridor, including
the dominating areas, and everything that entails.
Here also, I thought differently, and I acted differently.
I knew that if we enter in full force the last remaining Hamas stronghold --
Gaza City -- and destroy the centers of power within it, Hamas would want to
save its regime.
I also believed that if in addition to our massive military pressure, we apply
massive diplomatic pressure by our great friend, President Trump -- that
combination will cause Hamas to return all of our hostages, while the IDF
remains deep inside Gaza territory and controls all of its dominating points.
And this is what's happening.
In this manner, we are encircling Hamas from all directions, ahead of the
upcoming stages of the plan, in which Hamas will be disarmed, and Gaza will be
demilitarized. If this is achieved in the easy way -- it's all for the better.
And if not -- it will be achieved the hard way.
I wish to make this point as clear as possible: Anyone who says that this
hostage deal was always on the table -- is simply not telling the truth.
Hamas has never agreed to release all of our hostages while we are inside the
Gaza Strip. Hamas only agreed to this deal when it felt the sword on its neck --
and the sword remains on its neck.
Hamas agreed to the deal only after the Trump Plan, which I agreed on with the
President in Washington, isolated it diplomatically on an unprecedented scale.
At the present stage of the plan, our focus is on releasing the hostages.
I must tell you that during the heart-rending meetings with the families of the
hostages during the past two years, my wife and I have shed tears. It can't be
any different. The heart is torn, the heart goes out to them.
I have promised to the relatives of the hostages that we will not give up on
anyone. And indeed, all of the hostages will be returning to us. In the next few
days, God willing, we will bring back all of them.
Alongside the great joy of their return, they will be faced with the difficult
task of physical and mental rehabilitation. The entire nation of Israel will
embrace them to help them get back on their feet.
The hostages that are deceased will be brought to a proper Jewish burial. We
will act to locate all of them as soon as possible -- we will do that as a
sacred duty of communal responsibility.
Citizens
of
Israel,
On this emotional day, I recognise our debt of gratitude to our heroic fighters
in the IDF and in the security apparatus. Since the outbreak of the war, they
report to the various fronts in order to defend our common home. Without the
marvellous sacrifice of our soldiers, we could not have the privilege of
returning the hostages home.
We embrace the families of the fallen, each family in its own pain, and wish on
our dear wounded of this war, in flesh or in spirit, a complete recovery.
I wish to thank President Trump for his global leadership and his relentless
efforts to develop this plan for the return of the hostages. On this matter, he
again proved his tremendous friendship for our nation and our country.
I thank the envoys of President Trump, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who have
done a great deal to reach the agreement for the release of the hostages.
And on our side, a very warm gratitude must go to our head of the negotiation
team,
Minister Ron Dermer, and the entire negotiation team. They have done
dedicated and creative work to bring us this far.
Citizens
of
Israel,
Two years ago, the holiday of Simchat Torah turned into a day of national grief.
This holiday of Simchat Torah will turn, God willing, into a day of national
joy, with the return of all our brothers and sisters taken hostage.
The name of the operation, "Returning Home," is a paraphrase of the promise
given to Our Mother Rachel in the Book of Jeremiah [34:16]: "and your children
shall return to their own border." Our sons and daughters shall return home.
Two years ago, we have emerged from rock bottom -- and fought back in kind
against our enemies. Owing to your steadfastness and solidarity, citizens of
Israel, we have stood through the ordeals.
We have achieved great victories, victories that change the face of the Middle
East. But, as the IDF Chief of General Staff has said: the battle isn't over
yet. We still face great challenges, but also great opportunities.
Together, we will overcome the challenges; together, we will fulfill the
opportunities; together, we will complete our missions; together, we will expand
the circle of peace around us.
