Palestinians and Israelis dare to hope that the Gaza deal is near

Palestinians and Israelis have expressed high hopes that a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and an agreement to release hostages held there is close after a devastating 15-month war.

“I can’t believe I’m still alive to witness this moment,” 17-year-old Sanabel said in a voice note sent from Gaza City. “We’ve been waiting 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 will happen now and all the hostages will come back.”

A spokesman for Qatar’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that there are no major issues blocking a deal between Israel and Hamas and that indirect talks in Doha have focused on “the final details of reaching an agreement”.

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

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

Sanabel, who lives with her family in the partially destroyed home, told the BBC’s OS program that everyone in northern Gaza was “happy, happy, optimistic to see their best friends, to see their families who were displaced to the south of Gaza. The Strip, to 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 try to “make up for every moment she took me out of sight”.

“But after I called him, there was a huge bomb around me. This reminded me of the November 2023 (ceasefire and hostage release agreement). There were big bombs and missiles (before it started). I’m really scared that it will 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 – for the rest of us.” lives”.

Asmaa Tayeh, a young woman sheltered with her family in her grandparents’ house in the western Gaza City neighborhood of al-Nasr, also said that people were daring to wait again.

“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, the largest refugee camp in Gaza City, and the Israeli army has forced its residents to evacuate their homes several times.

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

Since then there have been fierce battles in Jabalia. In December, Asmaa said her entire area was “wiped out”.

Relatives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since October 2023 have also spoken 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 84-year-old father Oded since the woman who was detained with him was released in November 2023 during a week-long ceasefire.

“For us, we know that there will be so much heartbreak. We know that many (guerrillas) are not alive. We are desperate to get the survivors back first, so that they can go back to their families. Everyone is a whole world,” he said on the Gaur program.

His mother, Yocheved, who was taken hostage in the Oct. 7 attack but was released weeks later, said she was skeptical about the chances of a deal, but “I sense cracks of optimism emerging.”

Eyal Kalderon – the cousin of 54-year-old Ofer Kalderon, whose two children were among 105 hostages freed from captivity in November – said in a voice note to BBC OS: “We hope the deal will be closed soon and we’ll get to the point where we’re hugging Ofer we are, hugging his four children.”

“We want this deal to include all the hostages, all 98 hostages. That’s what we’re asking for. We just hope to see them all in Israel (territory).”

Lee Siegel – the brother of Keith Siegel, 64, whose wife Aviva was also released in November -: “All the hostages must return home, those who are still alive, to work to rebuild their lives and their families; the dead, to have a proper burial in their country.”

Some families of hostages who were not included in the initial releases expressed anger that their loved ones could be left behind if the deal stalls later.

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

“The prime minister is unfortunately moving forward with a deal that doesn’t include my son and 65 other hostages, where he doesn’t know how my son will get out. And for most families this deal is unacceptable,” he said. .

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing opposition from far-right cabinet ministers and some in his own party against a broader ceasefire and prisoner releases.

Sharon Lifshitz said the majority of Israelis accepted the deal “for a very long time,” but the combined pressure from the administrations of President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump finally gave Netanyahu’s government “an extra boost.” he needed

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

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

Meanwhile, Blinken – whose term as US Secretary of State is coming to an end – explained for the first time the plan the Biden administration wants to give Trump for post-war Gaza.

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

Critically, Gaza’s security forces would be made up of personnel from other countries, possibly from unnamed Arab states, alongside Palestinian forces.

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

Israel, meanwhile, has continued its military campaign “ever since” to destroy Hamas’ military capability and kill those responsible for the October 7 attack.

He suggested that this was a self-defeat, adding that the US appreciated 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 approximately 1,200 people were killed and another 251 were taken hostage.

Since then, more than 46,640 people have died in Gaza, according to the territory’s Hamas-run Health Ministry. Most of the 2.3 million people have also been displaced, there is widespread destruction and severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter as they 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. In addition, there are four Israelis kidnapped before the war, two of them dead.