Hope and sadness in Israel after the Gaza ceasefire agreement
On Thursday, shortly after 1 I am In Israel, documentaries by recent film graduates were interrupted on Channel 12 due to breaking news. A broadcaster announced that a ceasefire agreement had just been reached between Israel and Hamas. Cut to the White House broadcast; Video footage showed President Donald Trump holding a roundtable meeting with conservative influencers, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio handing him a slip of paper.
It was a handwritten note, taken by Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci, that said “very soon.” Both words are underlined. “We need you to approve the Truth Social post soon so you can announce the deal first,” the message continued. It didn’t take long for it to become official. The Israeli broadcaster said: “This is the position that we have all probably been waiting for.” She went on to read Trump’s book in Hebrew statement“I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have signed the first phase of our peace plan,” the letter began. “This means that all hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw its forces to an agreed line as the first steps towards a strong, lasting and eternal peace.”
News of the ceasefire had been expected since Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, held a joint press conference last week to announce their support for the White House proposal to end the war, and Hamas responded in a way that Trump marketed as a yes. But now it’s official: the hostages will return home on Monday. It was as if the Israelis took a collective breath in and then exhaled. In the square outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, which has been renamed Hostage Square, scenes of joy erupted unhindered late into the night. The hostage families, who had so far been restrained in their public reactions to the prospective agreement, allowed themselves to collapse into tears of relief.
Einav Zanjoker and Anat Angrist, whose sons – both named Matan – are in captivity in Gaza, embrace each other in a long embrace. “Mattin and Matin are coming home!” Anger shouted. Zanjoker, who has become a symbol of the families’ long struggle to free their loved ones, smiled warily. “Are there instructions on how to welcome your child after two years into captivity?” I asked, According to to Haaretz.
Michel Illouz, whose son was killed while in Hamas custody, approached Zanjoker and lifted her into the air. Seeing the jubilation of both parents — one whose son was still alive and would be home soon, the other whose son was expected to return in a body bag — was like witnessing the full spectrum of emotions Israelis have felt in the past two years: hope coexisting with grief, and the terrible feeling that so much bloodshed could have been prevented. A similar deal has been on the table for months. What began with the worst attack on Israeli territory in the country’s history – when Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and took more than two hundred hostage on October 7, 2023 – led to a horrific war. The death toll in Gaza has exceeded sixty-seven thousand, with the Strip so devastated that Israel has become an international pariah. For Israelis, the prevailing feeling is that their country is becoming more isolated on the world stage, even as its people remain in mourning. More than nine hundred Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza, and large numbers of army reservists, numbering nearly three hundred thousand, have been repeatedly called up for duty. Suicide rates have also increased among the military; Sixteen soldiers have been killed in this way this year, nearly half of them serving in reserve duty.
Before dawn on Thursday, scenes of relief and celebration began flowing from Gaza. A group of young Palestinian children stood barefoot outside their makeshift tents, jumping up and down, screaming.truce!– “A truce!” In the streets of Khan Yunis, dozens of men gathered around a single television set, whistling and chanting. The Israeli army has now begun its withdrawal from Gaza City, clearing the Netzarim Corridor, which divided Gaza into two parts, between north and south.
Over the past few days, delegations of Israeli and Hamas officials participated in talks in a ballroom in the Egyptian coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh, to discuss the details of the agreement. Pictures also appeared showing the Israeli representative in the hostage case, retired General Nitzan Alon, smiling and shaking hands with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al Thani, just weeks after Israel attempted to assassinate senior Hamas officials on Qatari soil.
But despite the handshakes, many hurdles remain unaddressed. In particular, there remains uncertainty over the question of who will rule Gaza after the war and whether Hamas will agree to disarm. The timeline and extent of the Israeli withdrawal remains to be seen. Also left unanswered so far is the identity of some “heavy” Palestinian prisoners whom Israel promised to release in exchange for the release of the hostages. The number of Palestinian prisoners that Israel will release has already been agreed upon, which is about two hundred and fifty prisoners and one thousand seven hundred Palestinians arrested by Israel after the October 7 attacks launched by Hamas. But it remains unclear whether Marwan Barghouti, for example, is the leader of the Fatah-affiliated militia, widely viewed by Palestinians as a symbol of resistance and a potential leader capable of uniting Fatah and Hamas. Netanyahu has insisted that Israel will not release him, but the pressing timetable would likely result in several red lines being violated on both sides.
The ceasefire agreement is a crowning achievement for Trump, who appears to have timed it specifically to precede Friday’s announcement of the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, a longtime obsession of his. For Netanyahu, who has until this point resisted reaching an agreement to release all the hostages and end the war, the ceasefire agreement represents a complete turnaround. The political ramifications for him are still unknown. Although a majority of the Israeli public was pushing for a hostage agreement and a ceasefire, Netanyahu’s extremist coalition partners threatened to bring down his government if the war ended and the Israeli army completely withdrew from Gaza. Shortly after the agreement was announced, Trump called Sean Hannity’s show on Fox News and said he had just spoken with Netanyahu. “He said, ‘I can’t believe it. Everyone likes me now,'” Trump said of Netanyahu, in an account unlikely to be appreciated by the Israeli prime minister. “Most importantly, they love Israel again,” I said, and they did. “Israel can’t fight the world, Bibi,” I said. “They can’t fight the world.”