Palestinians and Israelis dare to hope that an agreement with Gaza is close

Palestinians and Israelis have expressed cautious optimism that an agreement on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages held there after 15 months of devastating war is near.

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

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

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

An Israeli government official said the talks had made “real progress” and 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 “on the brink”.

Sanabel, who lives with her family in their partially destroyed house, told the BBC’s OS program that everyone in northern Gaza “felt happy, joyful, optimistic to see their best friends, to see their families who were displaced.” south of Gaza”. Get naked, to start over.”

The teenager said she had 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 I was deprived of seeing her.”

“But after I called her, there was a huge bomb in my area. This reminded me of (the last ceasefire and hostage release agreement) in November 2023. There were huge bombs and missiles (before it started). I’m really scared. that this will happen again.”

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

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

“You can never imagine how excited and nervous people are here,” he 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 several times 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 fierce fighting has been fought in Jabalia. In December, Asmaa said her entire area had been “wiped out.”

Relatives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since October 2023 have also been speaking to the BBC about the news that a ceasefire agreement 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 week-long ceasefire in November 2023.

“For us, we know there will be a lot of anguish. We know that many of (the hostages) are no longer alive. We are desperate for the return of the living first so that they can return to their families. They are a whole world,” he told the program Today.

He said his mother, Yocheved, who was also kidnapped in the Oct. 7 attack but was freed weeks later, was skeptical about the chances of a deal, but that “I can feel the cracks of optimism appearing.”

Eyal Kalderon, cousin of Ofer Kalderon, 54, two of whose children were among the 105 hostages freed from captivity in November, said in a voice note sent to BBC OS: “We hope the deal will be closed soon.” and we will reach the moment when we are hugging Ofer, when his four children are hugging him.”

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

Lee Siegel – brother of Keith Siegel, 64, whose wife Aviva was also freed in November – insisted: “All the hostages must return home – those who are still alive, to work on rebuilding their lives and their families. ; those who are deceased, for a proper burial in their country of origin.”

Some families of hostages not included in the initial releases expressed anger that their relatives could be left behind if the deal fails at a later stage.

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

“Unfortunately, the prime minister is moving forward with an agreement that does not include my son or 65 additional hostages, from which it is unknown how my son will emerge. And for the majority of families this agreement is unacceptable,” he said. .

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

Sharon Lifshitz said most Israelis had supported that deal for “a long time,” but that a combined pressure from the administrations of outgoing US President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump had finally given the government from Netanyahu an “extra push”. needed.

“It looks like this deal is very much the deal that was on the table in July,” he added. “Many, many hostages have died since July. Soldiers, Palestinians. A lot of suffering.”

Later on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he was confident that a majority of the Israeli government would support a deal.

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

It did not foresee immediate full control of Gaza by the Palestinian Authority (PA), the entity created by the Oslo accords that has limited governance in parts of the occupied West Bank.

Crucially, Gaza’s security forces would be made up of personnel from other countries – probably Arab states, although he did not name them – along with “vetted” Palestinian forces.

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

Meanwhile, Israel, he said, had pursued its military campaign “beyond the point” of destroying Hamas’s military capabilities and killing its leaders responsible for the October 7 attack.

He suggested this was counterproductive, adding that the United States considered 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 attack on October 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people were killed and another 251 were taken hostage.

More than 46,640 people have died in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run territory’s Health Ministry. Most of the 2.3 million inhabitants have also been displaced, there is widespread destruction and severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter as the struggle to get aid to those in need.

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