Overview

• Hamas returned the last 20 living Israeli hostages around 5 a.m. New York time, along with the remains of at least four others.
• Israel freed nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and entered a partial ceasefire under a U.S.-brokered deal.
• Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa quickly praised the reunifications, with Sliwa crediting President Trump for the agreement.
• Democratic nominee and polling frontrunner Zohran Mamdani issued a statement after 4 p.m., welcoming the releases while calling Israel’s campaign a genocide and urging accountability and reconstruction.
• Cuomo criticized Mamdani for waiting more than 12 hours to comment, sharpening the campaign’s focus on candidates’ positions regarding the Gaza war’s conduct and outcome.