Palestinians and Israelis dare to hope that a deal in 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 is close after 15 months of devastating war.

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

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

A spokesman for Qatar’s foreign ministry 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 of reaching an agreement”.

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

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the deal was “on the brink.”

Sanabel, who lives with her family in their partially destroyed home, told the BBC’s OS program that everyone in northern Gaza “feels happy, cheerful, optimistic to see their best friends, to see their families, who were moved to southern Gaza.” Undress to start over.”

The teenager said she called her displaced best friend and discussed “what we’re going to do when the war is over”, adding that she would start by trying to “make up for every moment I missed seeing her”.

“But after I called her, there was a huge bombshell in my area. It reminded me of (the last ceasefire and hostage release agreement) in November 2023. There were huge bombs and rockets (before it started). I am very afraid that this will happen again.”

“In the last hours of this war, I don’t want to lose any of my family members. I don’t want a ceasefire for a year or five months. I want a long-term ceasefire – for the rest of us lives.”

Asma Taye, a young graduate who took shelter with her family in her grandparents’ house in the western Gaza City neighborhood of al-Nasra, also said people had dared to hope again.

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

Asmaa is from Jabalia, the largest urban refugee camp in Gaza, whose residents have been forced to evacuate their homes several times by the Israeli military.

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

Fierce fighting has been going on in Jabaliya ever since. Asma said in December that her entire territory had been “destroyed”.

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

Sharon Lifshitz is a British-Israeli artist and filmmaker who has had no news of her 84-year-old father Oded since the woman who was held with him was released during a week-long ceasefire in November 2023.

“We know there will be so much grief. We know that quite a few (hostages) are no longer alive. We are desperate to bring back the living first so they can go back to their families. Each of them is a whole world,” she told the “Today” program.

She said her mother, Yoheved, who was also abducted in the Oct. 7 attack but was released weeks later, was skeptical about the chances of a deal, but “I can feel the optimism slipping away.”

Eyal Calderon – a cousin of Ofer Calderon, 54, whose two children were among the 105 hostages freed from captivity in November – said in a voice memo sent to BBC OS: “We hope the deal will be completed soon. and we will reach the moment when we embrace Ofer, that his four children embrace him.’

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

Lee Siegel – the brother of 64-year-old Keith Siegel, 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; of the deceased, for a proper burial in his homeland.”

Some of the families of the hostages who were not initially released expressed anger that their relatives could remain if the deal breaks down at a later stage.

Ruby Chen’s son, Itai, was killed in an attack on October 7, 2023, and his body is in Gaza.

“Unfortunately, the Prime Minister is pushing a deal that does not include my son and 65 additional hostages, and it is not clear how my son is going to get out. And for most families, this deal 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 have supported such a deal for a “very long time,” but combined pressure from the administrations of outgoing US President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump has finally given the Netanyahu government the “extra push” it needs.

“It looks like this deal is very similar to the deal that was on the table in July,” she added. “Many, many hostages have died since July. Soldiers, Palestinians. So much suffering.”

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

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

It did not envisage immediate full control of Gaza by the Palestinian Authority (PA), the entity created under the Oslo Accords that has limited control over parts of the occupied West Bank.

Critically, Gaza’s security forces will be made up of personnel from other countries – most likely Arab states, though he did not name them – alongside “vetted” Palestinian forces.

Blinken said, as before, that Hamas sought to ignite a regional war and disrupt US efforts to integrate Israel and its Arab neighbors.

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

He suggested that was the case, adding that according to US estimates, Hamas has recruited almost as many new fighters as Israel has killed.

Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s attack on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.

More than 46,640 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. Much of the population of 2.3 million has also been displaced, there is widespread destruction and there are severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter amid the struggle to help those living in need.

Israel says 94 hostages are still being held by Hamas, 34 of whom are believed to be dead. In addition, there are four Israelis abducted before the war, two of whom are already dead.