In Gaza, where most of the more than 2 million people have been displaced by Israeli bombing, young men applauded in the devastated streets, even as Israeli strikes continued in some parts of the enclave.
“Thank God for the ceasefire, the end of bloodshed and killing,” said Abdul Majeed Abd Rabbo in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. am not the only one happy, all of the Gaza Strip is happy, all the Arab people, all of the world is happy with the ceasefire and the end of bloodshed. Thank you and all the love to those who stood with us,” one man said.
In Tel Aviv’s so-called Hostages Square, where families of those seized in the Hamas attack that sparked the war two year sago have gathered to demand the return of loved ones, Einav Zaugauker, the mother of a hostage, was ecstatic.
“I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe, I can’t explain what I’m feeling, it’s crazy,” she said, speaking in the red glow of a celebratory flare.
“What do I say to him? What do I do? Hug and kiss him,” she added, referring to her son, Matan. “Just tell him that I love him, that’s it. And to see his eyes sink into mine. It’s overwhelming, this is a relief.”
Israel and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to the first phase of United States President Donald Trump’s plan for the Palestinian enclave, a ceasefire and hostage deal that could open the way to ending a bloody two-year-old war that has disrupted the Middle East.
“I have no words to describe it,” said former hostage Omer Shem-tov, when asked how the moment felt.
Just a day after the second anniversary of the cross-border attack by Hamas militants that triggered Israel’s devastating assault on Gaza, indirect talks in Egypt yielded a deal on the initial stage of Trump’s 20-point framework for peace.
–Reuters—
