Hope and Grief in Israel After the Gaza Ceasefire Deal
Thursday, shortly after 1 p.m. AM In Israel, a sleepy screening of documentaries by recent film graduates on Channel 12 was interrupted by breaking news. A presenter announced that a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas had just been reached. The broadcast cut to the White House; footage showed President Donald Trump hosting a roundtable discussion with conservative influencers, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio handed him a piece of paper.
It was a handwritten note, captured by Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci, that read “very close.” Both words have been underlined. “We need you to approve a Truth Social post soon so you can announce a deal first,” the message continues. Soon after, it was official. “This is the job we’ve probably all been waiting for,” the Israeli presenter said. She then read, in Hebrew, Trump’s statement: “I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed the first phase of our peace plan,” she began. “This means that ALL hostages will be released very soon and Israel will withdraw its troops along an agreed line as a first step towards a strong, lasting and eternal peace. »
News of a ceasefire had been expected since Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, held a joint news conference last week to announce their support for a White House proposal to end the war, and Hamas responded in a way that was marketed by Trump as a yes vote. But it was now official: the hostages would return home on Monday. It was as if the Israelis collectively inhaled and then exhaled. In the square outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, renamed Hostage Square, scenes of unfettered joy erupted late into the night. The families of the hostages, so far reserved in their public reactions to a possible agreement, burst into tears of relief.
Einav Zangauker and Anat Angrest, whose two sons – both named Matan – are in captivity in Gaza, hugged for a long time. “Matan and Matan are coming home!” » Anger shouted. Zangauker, who has become a symbol of the families’ long fight for the release of their loved ones, smiled warily. “Are there instructions for welcoming your child after two years of captivity? she asked, according to Haaretz.
Michel Illouz, whose son had been killed while in Hamas custody, approached Zangauker and lifted her into the air. To see the jubilation of the two parents – one whose son is alive and will soon come home, the other whose son is expected to return in a body bag – was to witness the full spectrum of emotions felt by Israelis over the past two years: hope coexisting with grief and the terrible feeling that much of the bloodshed could have been avoided. A similar deal had been on the table months ago. What began as the worst attack on Israeli soil in the country’s history – when Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and took more than 200 hostages on October 7, 2023 – has led to a horrific war. The death toll in Gaza has surpassed sixty-seven thousand, and the enclave is so ravaged that Israel has become something of an international pariah. For Israelis, the prevailing feeling is that their country has become increasingly isolated on the world stage, even as its population remains in mourning. More than nine hundred Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza, and many of the army’s nearly three hundred thousand reservists have been repeatedly called into service. Suicide rates in the military have also increased; Sixteen soldiers have died this year, almost half of them in reserve service.
Before dawn on Thursday, scenes of relief and celebration began to flow from Gaza. A group of Palestinian toddlers, barefoot in front of their makeshift tents, were jumping up and down shouting: “Hudna!“-“Truce!” In the streets of Khan Younis, dozens of men crowded around a single television set, whistling and clapping. The Israeli army has now begun its retreat out of Gaza City and left the Netzarim corridor, which had divided Gaza in two, between the north and the south.
In recent days, delegations of Israeli and Hamas officials have held talks in a ballroom in the Egyptian coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh, to iron out the details of the deal. Footage was also released showing Israel’s representative on the hostage issue, retired General Nitzan Alon, smiling and shaking hands with Qatar Prime Minister Mohammed al-Thani, just weeks after Israel attempted to assassinate senior Hamas officials on Qatari soil.
Despite the handshakes, many obstacles nevertheless remain to be overcome. In particular, uncertainties remain over who will govern Gaza after the war and whether Hamas will agree to disarm. It also remains to be determined the timetable for an Israeli withdrawal and its extent. The identity of some of the so-called “heavy” Palestinian prisoners that Israel promised to release in exchange for the hostages also remains unanswered for the moment. The number of Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel has already been agreed: approximately two hundred and fifty prisoners and one thousand seven hundred Palestinians whom Israel detained after the Hamas attacks on October 7. But it is not yet clear whether, for example, Marwan Barghouti, leader of Fatah’s Tanzim militia, widely seen by Palestinians as a symbol of resistance and a potential leader capable of uniting both Fatah and Hamas, will be released. Netanyahu has insisted Israel will not release him, but the tight timetable is such that many red lines on both sides will likely be crossed.
The ceasefire agreement is a major achievement for Trump, who appears to have timed it specifically to precede Friday’s announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize winner – one of his long obsessions. For Netanyahu, who until now has opposed a deal to free all hostages and end the war, the ceasefire deal marks a turnaround. The political consequences for him are still unknown. Although a majority of the Israeli public has pushed for a hostage deal and ceasefire, Netanyahu’s hardline coalition partners have threatened to overthrow his government if the war ends and the Israeli military withdraws entirely from Gaza. Shortly after the deal was announced, Trump called into Sean Hannity’s show on Fox News and said he had just spoken to Netanyahu. “He said, ‘I can’t believe it. Everybody likes me now,'” Trump said of Netanyahu, in a story that the Israeli prime minister is unlikely to like. “I said, ‘Most importantly, they love Israel again,’ and they really do. I said, ‘Israel can’t fight the world, Bibi. They can’t fight the world.’ »
