A day of celebration and guarded hope

Twin brothers Ziv and Gali Berman spent two years in separate jails, each not knowing if the other was alive. When they were finally reunited among the first batch of hostages in this week’s intense exchanges, they could hardly believe their own eyes.

The brothers join a total of 20 known living hostages released by Hamas as demanded by the terms of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, with the bodies of 28 more still pending. The mood was euphoric among the crowds of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square. Cheers rose over a sea of flags as it was gradually announced that the freed men were in the hands of the Red Cross, then secure with the IDF, then flying overhead in a helicopter. At the welcoming hospital, women waited to embrace their husbands and sons, children to embrace their fathers. For Omri Miran, it is a reunion with daughters so young when he was taken, he appears almost like a stranger to them.

The exchange of these men for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners is the heart of Phase 1 in the Trump administration’s comprehensive peace plan for the region. As usual, the asymmetry of the swap is stark, in quality and quantity. Of the 1,950 names, some 250 were serving life sentences—men who organized bombings and shooting attacks, some with Palestinian as well as Israeli blood on their hands.

In this moment, it is no doubt heavy on Israelis’ minds that the very mastermind of Oct. 7, Yahyah Sinwar, was released in an exchange like this. With that haunting history in the background, they deserve an answer to the question, “How do we know this will never happen again?” The next phases of the plan, which include the disarming and replacement of Hamas, are meant to address that question—in theory. 

Meanwhile, some of the voices most loudly shouting “Ceasefire now!” have been strangely muted in the wake of an actual ceasefire. Of course, this is understandable for those who were hanging their hopes on an outcome that involved more dead Jews. Over the first half of the war, the Israeli flag in my X bio drew virulent attacks (from far left and right alike). But even when I removed it and left nothing but a yellow ribbon, a symbol specifically meant to honor the hostages, the insults continued.

Remarkable stories have emerged of how some of those hostages were captured while working to save others. Rom Braslavski, a security guard still in his teens, directed many to safety while disregarding his own. Bar Kupershtein, a paramedic, stayed behind to tend the wounded. With his father wheelchair-bound and unable to speak, Bar was the family breadwinner. In one of the most moving reunion videos, Bar’s father is assisted out of the wheelchair for a standing embrace, slowly telling his son, “I can talk!” after two years of rehab.

Mixed with joy for those who came home is an intense grief for the many who didn’t. Grief for Hersh Goldberg-Polin and the other five men and women slaughtered with him in the tunnels as the IDF approached. Grief for three accidentally killed in a heart-wrenching friendly fire incident. Grief for Kfir and Ariel Bibas, the youngest hostages, along with their mother, Shiri. Baby Kfir was less than a year old at the time of his abduction. In honor of their red hair, the color orange took on a symbolic meaning in the Israeli community. In the end, husband and father Yarden Bibas returned alone.

We also remember the dead who weren’t even Jewish, captured and murdered simply because they were in the way. These were young people from Africa and Asia who had come to gain work experience on Israeli farms. People like Bipin Joshi, from Nepal, or Joshua Mollel, from Tanzania. Horrifying footage from the day showed Joshua surrounded by terrorists, pleading for his life.

The people of the Gaza Strip have in turn paid a terrible price for these crimes, with the constant war footage souring many to Israel’s cause. Under Hamas auspices, reportage from the region has left the international community struggling to sift truth from fiction. Even so, there is no doubt that many innocents have suffered and died, which many ordinary Israelis don’t celebrate when asked for comment.

In Hostage Square interviews, they repeatedly expressed their gratitude for the deal and a simple desire to live in peace with their neighbors. “No Israeli wants war,” one man said when asked to address the popular perception of his people as bloodthirsty warmongers. “No Israeli wants territory.” They simply regarded these hostages as their brothers, and Israelis never leave their brothers behind.

When Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, the forces of Hamas raised up the generation of young warriors who would carry out the slaughter of 10/7. Now, a new day dawns, with an opportunity to choose a better path for the children dancing in the rubble of Yahywar Sinwar’s dreams. Will their fathers and mothers take it? Only time will tell.