More Pix: All 20 hostages are finally home

In a scene etched with raw emotion and unbreakable hope, twenty Israeli hostages freed from Hamas's clutches stepped into the light today, their gaunt faces breaking into smiles as they reunited with loved ones after 738 harrowing days.

Captured in heart-wrenching photos circulating worldwide, these survivors, young men like Matan Zangauker, Alon Ohel, Gali and Ziv Berman, Matan Angrest, Eitan Mor, and Omri Miran, clung to family members at IDF bases, their embraces a testament to resilience amid unspeakable suffering.

Abducted during the brutal October 7, 2023, attacks that shattered families and ignited a two-year war, these hostages endured isolation, torture, and despair in Gaza's tunnels. Yet, in fleeting pre-release calls facilitated by their captors, voices cracked with relief: "The war is over, you're coming home," one mother whispered.

Now, under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire spearheaded by President Trump, they've returned, wounded but alive, symbolizing a fragile dawn after darkness that claimed thousands.

As crowds cheered in Tel Aviv and tears flowed in quiet homes, these images capture not just survival, but the enduring spirit of a nation: "We can breathe again," one family declared.