Hope rising

Thousands of people packed Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square—the plaza in front of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art—on a sun-filled Monday morning to witness one of the most significant days in their nation’s history. As all Israel held its breath and the world watched, Hamas released the last of the hostages abducted on Oct. 7, 2023. Supporters gathered in Hostages Square watched the news of their release live on a giant screen. They cheered, chanted, sang, and wept as the first new images of the hostages appeared on the screen. Names like Rom Braslavski, Evyatar David, and Eitan Horn, hostages whose images had been plastered in shop windows, on the sides of taxis, and in bus stations all over Israel for the past two years.

For many in the square on Oct. 13, the release of the hostages meant that an emotional weight was finally lifted, a weight that had kept Israelis from moving forward and going about their daily lives.

“It’s pure excitement, like finally a bit of hope after all the very harsh years,” said Yonatan Had. “These two years were so full of grief. Everything was very dark all the time, and finally a bit of light and finally a bit of hope for the future. Just a big bright future right now.”

Brad Myers, a young Australian immigrant to Israel, put the day’s events in perspective.

“This is huge,” he said. “I’m 26. I haven’t been alive for all of Israel’s history, but this is the biggest, biggest day in my lifetime for Israel, 100 percent.”

The release of the hostages was just one step called for in the first phase of a 20-point road map for peace between Israel and Hamas championed by the Trump administration and backed by several Arab and Muslim nations. In exchange for the hostages, Israel agreed to free nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, some of whom were also released on the same day. As part of that ceasefire plan, approved by Israel on Oct. 10, Gaza must demilitarize and Hamas must turn in its weapons. In response, Israel agreed to withdraw its military in Gaza to prespecified lines.

Shortly after the hostages were released, roughly 70 miles away in Jerusalem, U.S. President Donald Trump addressed the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. In an upbeat, hourlong speech laced with humor and touting his own foreign policy, Trump promised a new era for the region.

“Generations from now, this will be remembered as the moment that everything began to change and change very much for the better,” Trump said. “It will be the golden age of Israel and the golden age of the Middle East—it’s going to work together.”

The president went on to assure Israelis that they had won over Hamas militarily and said they now needed to pursue peace and prosperity. The plan calls for an international body to govern Gaza, with Palestinian bureaucrats running day-to-day affairs. It also calls for an Arab-led international security force paired with Palestinian police. About 200 U.S. troops traveled to Israel to monitor the ceasefire.

Palestinians return home to completely destroyed infrastructure in Gaza City. Anas Zeyad Fteha / Anadolu via Getty Images

But Israelis aren’t the only ones who have suffered for the past two years. Palestinian Christians in the West Bank have also longed for the conflict in Gaza to end. Yousef AlKhouri is the academic dean of Bethlehem Bible College. He said he was born in Gaza and hails from a family that served in the priesthood of Gaza’s Orthodox Church for 900 years. Some of his family still lives there, and he said they’ve suffered during the conflict, which he blames on Israel.

“What’s happening is disastrous in many ways, not only for the Christian community in Gaza, which is about to vanish,” he told me a couple weeks before the ceasefire was announced. “And it’s not because of Islamic persecution, it’s because of Israeli brutality.”

He said many of the Christian community in Gaza were suffering from lack of food and water. He said he speaks to his parents as often as he can get a phone connection.

“This is the reality: no sleep almost all night—this is the situation of my mom today, never slept last night,” he said in September. “The Israeli [military is] constantly bombarding their neighboring area, which is the Orthodox Church neighborhood.”

He went on to claim that “there’s no militants there, so [you] can see that it’s only bombardment for the sake of destruction and brutalizing the local community.”

Israel flatly denies intentionally targeting civilians and points to ongoing measures to avoid civilian casualties, including dropping leaflets and issuing evacuation orders before engaging in military action. But AlKhouri’s voice breaks at the thought of his parents having to leave their home, which he said was built in the early fifth century.

“So leaving this behind is torture,” he said. “My mom was telling me she prefers to die in their home rather than being displaced.”

After two years of war, much of Gaza’s infrastructure lies in ruins. Trump vowed to help rebuild and urged Palestinians to “turn forever from the path of terror and violence.” During a summit in Egypt on the day of the hostage release, Middle Eastern and European leaders pledged to work together to help secure Gaza’s future. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani signed a document with Trump that lays the groundwork for rebuilding, although they did not make details public.

Many in Hostages Square agreed that the release of the hostages signified a turning point for the Middle East and a chance to pursue a brighter future for Israel. But some Israelis appeared divided on how that future could be achieved—and whose responsibility it was to take action.

Some, like Tamarah Arounian, suggested that change should stem from building bridges and that Israelis have a responsibility to try to understand the position of Palestinian people like AlKhouri.

“I think healing includes the other side too,” she said. “I think that’s the only way everyone’s gonna get the closure that they need.”

But Jacob Basiri disagreed.

“We can’t build too many bridges,” he said. “That change has to come mostly from the other side. We’re always happy to change. We’re always reinventing ourselves. We take care of our children, our cousins, our neighborhoods, our state. The counter party … needs to care for their kids more than they care about killing us.”