Palestinians and Israelis dare to hope that an agreement on Gaza will be reached

Palestinians and Israelis have expressed cautious optimism that a deal could be reached on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages held there after 15 months of devastating war.

“I can’t believe I’m still alive to witness this moment,” Sanabel, 17, said in a voice note sent from Gaza City. “We’ve been looking forward to this since the first month of (last year).”

Sharon Lifshitz, whose elderly father is among the remaining hostages, said: “I’m trying to breathe. I try to be optimistic. I’m trying to imagine that it’s possible that a deal could be reached now and all the hostages returned.”

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday that no major issues were blocking a deal between Israel and Hamas and that indirect negotiations in Doha were focused on “the final details to reach an agreement.”

An Israeli government official said the negotiations had made “real progress” and had entered a critical and sensitive period, while Hamas said it was satisfied with the state of the negotiations.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a deal was “close to happening”.

Sanabel, who lives with her family in their partially destroyed home, told the BBC’s OS program that everyone in northern Gaza felt “happy, joyful, optimistic to see their best friends again, to see their families displaced to southern Gaza. Take off your clothes and start again.”

The teenager said she called her displaced best friend and discussed “what we would do if the war ended”, adding that she would start by trying to “make up for every moment that took me away from seeing her” .

“But after I called her, there was a huge bomb in my area. It reminded me of the (last ceasefire and hostage release agreement) in November 2023. There were huge bombs and missiles (before it starts). I’m really afraid it’s going to happen again.”

“In the last hours of this war, I don’t want to lose a member of my family. I don’t want a ceasefire for a year or five months. I want a ceasefire for a long time period – for the rest of our lives.

Asmaa Tayeh, a young graduate who took refuge with her family in her grandparents’ house in the al-Nasr neighborhood west of Gaza City, also said people were daring again hope.

“You can never imagine how excited and nervous people are here,” she told the BBC. “Everyone is waiting as if they will only survive after the announcement.”

Asmaa is from Jabalia, Gaza’s largest urban refugee camp, whose residents have been forced to evacuate their homes repeatedly by the Israeli army.

When the Israeli army launched a new ground offensive in Jabalia in October, Asmaa’s family was forced to flee once again.

Since then, violent fighting has raged in Jabalia. In December, Asmaa said her entire region had been “wiped out.”

Relatives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since October 2023 also spoke to the BBC about the news that a ceasefire deal could be imminent.

Sharon Lifshitz is a British-Israeli artist and filmmaker who has not heard from her father Oded, 84, since the woman who was detained with him was released during the ceasefire week in November 2023.

“For us, we know there will be so much grief. We know a number (of hostages) are no longer alive. We desperately need the survivors to return, so they can be reunited with their families “It’s a whole world to them,” she told the Today show.

She said her mother, Yocheved – who was also kidnapped in the October 7 attack but was released a few weeks later – was skeptical about the chances of a deal, but that “I can feel cracks in “optimism dawns”.

Eyal Kalderon – the cousin of Ofer Kalderon, 54, whose two children were among the 105 hostages released from captivity in November – said in a voice note sent to BBC OS: “We hope the deal will be concluded soon and we will arrive at the moment when we will hug Ofer, when his four children will hug him.

“We want this agreement to include all the hostages, all 98 hostages. We demand that. We just hope to see them all in Israeli (territory).”

Lee Siegel – the brother of Keith Siegel, 64, whose wife Aviva was also released in November – insisted: “All hostages must return home – those who are still alive, to work on rebuilding their life and their family; for a dignified burial in their country of origin;

Some hostage families not included in the initial releases expressed anger that their loved ones could be left behind if the deal later collapsed.

Ruby Chen’s son, Itay, was killed in the October 7, 2023 attack and his body is being held in Gaza.

“Unfortunately, the Prime Minister is moving forward with a deal that does not include my son or 65 additional hostages, from which it is unclear how my son will fare. And for most families, this deal is unacceptable,” he said. .

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces opposition from far-right ministers and some members of his own party, who oppose the release of prisoners and a broader ceasefire deal.

Sharon Lifshitz said a majority of Israelis had supported such a deal for a “very long time”, but that combined pressure from the administrations of outgoing US President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump had finally given Netanyahu’s government a “blow”. extra inch. it was necessary.

“It seems that this agreement is very close to the one that was on the table in July,” she added. “Many hostages have died since July. Soldiers, Palestinians. So much suffering.”

Speaking later Tuesday, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he was confident a majority in the Israeli government would support a deal.

Meanwhile, Blinken – nearing the end of his term as US secretary of state – laid out for the first time the plan the Biden administration wants to hand over to Trump for post-war Gaza.

It did not envision immediate full control of Gaza by the Palestinian Authority (PA) – the entity created by the Oslo Accords which limited governance in parts of the occupied West Bank.

Importantly, Gaza’s security forces would be staffed by personnel from other countries – most likely Arab states although he did not name them – alongside “controlled” Palestinian forces.

Blinken said, as he has before, that Hamas had sought to start a regional war and derail U.S.-led efforts to integrate Israel and its Arab neighbors.

Meanwhile, Israel, he added, continued its military campaign “beyond” the destruction of Hamas’s military capacity and the assassination of its leaders responsible for the October 7 attack.

He suggested that this was doomed to failure, adding that the United States estimated that Hamas had recruited almost as many new militants as Israel had killed.

Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s October 7, 2023 attack, in which around 1,200 people were killed and another 251 taken hostage.

Since then, more than 46,640 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. Most of the 2.3 million people have also been displaced, destruction is widespread and there are severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter due to the struggle to deliver aid to those who need it.

Israel says 94 of the hostages are still held by Hamas, 34 of whom are presumed dead. Additionally, four Israelis were kidnapped before the war, two of whom died.