The Last 20 Living Israeli Hostages Released…

Their faces stare down from every street corner in Israel on posters now sun-faded and ripped. Their stories, told by anguished family members, are almost as well-known as celebrities. They are civilians and soldiers, fathers and sons and a daughter.

Many were at the Nova music festival, where almost 400 people were killed and dozens kidnapped.

The latest ceasefire, the first phase of which began Friday, marks a key step toward ending a ruinous two-year war that was triggered by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, when some 1,200 people were killed and 251 kidnapped.

There were 48 hostages held in Gaza, including the body of a soldier killed in 2014. On October 13, the 20 living hostages among them were released, and Israel freed some 2,000 Palestinian security prisoners, including 250 lifetermers.

The bodies of the 28 who were killed on Oct. 7, 2023, or died while in captivity, are intended to follow. There is only one remaining female hostage, whom Israel believes was killed in captivity…