Palestinians and Israelis daring to hope a Gaza deal is close

After 15 months of devastating war, Palestinians and Israelis are cautiously optimistic about a ceasefire in Gaza and a deal to release hostages. Both sides hope to end the conflict and see the safe return of those held captive.

“I can’t believe I’m alive to witness this moment. We’ve been waiting for this moment with bated breath since the first month of last year,” said 17-year-old Sanabel from Gaza City, in a voice message. Her tone was filled with a longing for peace and a reflection on the suffering endured over the past year.

Sharon Lifschitz, whose elderly father is still among the hostages, said: “I’m struggling to breathe. I’m struggling to be optimistic. I’m struggling to imagine that there’s a possibility now of a deal and that all the hostages will return.” Her words revealed anticipation for the agreement and a desire for her family to be reunited.

A spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that there were no major issues between Israel and Hamas preventing a deal, with indirect talks in Doha focused on “the final details to reach an agreement.” An Israeli government official said there had been “real progress” in talks and that they had entered a critical and sensitive period, while Hamas said it was satisfied with the state of negotiations. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said an agreement was “within reach.”

Sanabel, who lives with her family in their partially destroyed home, told the BBC that people in northern Gaza were “happy, joyful, optimistic, and hoping to see their best friends, to see their families who were displaced to the southern parts of Gaza, and to restart their lives.” The teenager said she had called her displaced best friend to discuss “what we would do if the war ended,” adding that she would first try to “make up for every moment that I was deprived of seeing her.”

However, Sanabel also expressed concern, “But after I called her, there was a huge explosion in my area. It reminded me of the [last ceasefire and hostage release deal] in November 2023. [Before it started] there were huge bombs and missiles. I am really afraid that this will happen again.” She also said, “I don’t want to lose any of my family in the last hours of this war. I don’t want a ceasefire for a year or five months. I want a ceasefire for a long time – until the end of our lives.”

Young graduate Asma Tayeh, who is sheltering with her family in her grandparents’ home in the al-Nasr neighborhood, west of Gaza City, also said that people were daring to hope again. “You can’t imagine how excited and nervous people are here,” she told the BBC, “Everyone is waiting as if they can only live after the announcement.” Asma is from Jabalia, the largest refugee camp in Gaza, whose residents have been repeatedly forced to evacuate their homes by Israeli forces.

The area has been under fire since the Israeli military launched a new ground offensive in Jabalia in October. In December, Asma said her entire area was “destroyed.” Relatives of those taken hostage by Israel in Gaza since October 2023 have also been speaking to the BBC about the prospect of an imminent ceasefire deal.

Sharon Lifschitz, a British-Israeli artist and filmmaker, has not had any news of her father since women held with him, 84-year-old Oded, were released during a week-long truce in November 2023. “For us, we know there’s going to be a lot of heartbreak. We know that a number [of the hostages] are no longer with us. We desperately want the living to come back first and for them to be back with their families. Each one of them is an entire world,” she told the Today program.

She said her mother, Yocheved – who was also kidnapped in the October 7 attack but released a few weeks later – was skeptical about the possibility of a deal, but “I can feel cracks of optimism appearing.” Eyal Calderon, the cousin of 54-year-old Ofer Calderon, whose two children were among 105 hostages released from captivity in November, said in a voice message to the BBC OS: “We hope the deal will happen as soon as possible, and we will have the moment of hugging Ofer, and his four children will hug him.”

“We hope that this deal will include all the hostages, all 98 hostages. We are demanding it. We just want to see them all in [the territory of] Israel.” Keith Siegel, whose brother Lee Siegel, 64, is also being held, while his wife Aviva was released in November, insisted: “All the hostages have to come home – those who are still alive, to rebuild their lives and their families; those who have passed away, to get a proper burial in their homeland.”

Some relatives of hostages not included in the initial release lists have expressed anger that their loved ones might be forgotten if the deal fails at a later stage. Ruby Chen, whose son Itay was killed in the October 7, 2023 attacks and whose body is being held in Gaza, said: “Unfortunately, the prime minister is pushing forward with a deal that doesn’t include my son and another 65 hostages, not knowing how my son is going to come out. For most of the families, this deal is unacceptable.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing opposition from far-right cabinet ministers and some in his own party who are against the release of prisoners and a wider ceasefire deal. Sharon Lifschitz said that most Israelis had supported such a deal “for a long time” but that combined pressure from outgoing US President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump had finally given Netanyahu’s government the “extra push” it needed.

“It seems that this deal is very similar to the one that was on the table in July,” she added. “Since July, so many hostages, soldiers and Palestinians have been killed. So much suffering.” Foreign Minister Gidon Sa’ar said late on Tuesday that he believed the majority of the Israeli government would back the deal. Meanwhile, with his term as US Secretary of State coming to an end, Mr. Blinken for the first time outlined the Biden administration’s plan for post-war Gaza it hopes to pass to Mr. Trump.

The plan does not envision the Palestinian Authority (PA) immediately taking full control of Gaza – the entity created under the Oslo Accords, which has limited jurisdiction in parts of the occupied West Bank. Crucially, security forces in Gaza would be made up of personnel from other countries – most likely Arab nations, though he did not name them – as well as “vetted” Palestinian forces. Mr. Blinken said that, as he had previously said, Hamas was trying to provoke a regional war and undermine US-led efforts to integrate Israel with its Arab neighbors.

Meanwhile, he said that Israel’s military operations had gone “beyond” what was needed to destroy Hamas’s military capabilities and kill the leaders responsible for its October 7 attacks. He argued that this was self-defeating, adding that US assessments were that Hamas had recruited almost as many new fighters as Israel had killed. Israel launched an operation to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s October 7, 2023 attacks, which left around 1,200 people dead and another 251 taken hostage.

Since then, more than 46,640 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the territory. Most of the 2.3 million population have also been displaced, with widespread destruction and severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine, and shelter due to the difficulty in delivering aid to those in need. Israel says that Hamas is still holding 94 hostages, with 34 presumed dead. In addition, four Israelis were kidnapped before the war, two of whom have since died.