The Middle East ceasefire and release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners are creating renewed hope for lasting peace in Gaza.
The releases came three days after the ceasefire began and are part of President Trump’s 20-point plan to end the Israel-Hamas war.
From his living room in the Northern California city of Elk Grove in Sacramento County, Yassar Dahbour watched the images of a freed Palestinian man reuniting with his wife and children. The emotions were overwhelming.
“I can’t describe it,” Dahbour said. “We’ve been on an emotional roller coaster, and to see that, it’s such relief, but I’m thinking about the tens of thousands who did not have this chance.”
Sacramento Rabbi Mona Alfi, of Congregation B’Nai Israel, also watched as freed Israeli hostages finally embraced their families for the first time in two years.
“How can I not put myself in their place?” Alfi said.
Alfi’s son, Ezra Hammel, is back in Sacramento after spending two years in Israel, where he said he was often forced to take cover in bomb shelters. This day of celebration stands in stark contrast to what he lived through in Tel Aviv.
“People over the last few years haven’t wanted to celebrate too much while the hostages were still being held and while this terrible war has still been going on,” Hammel said. “And so the swelling of joy is really amazing and beautiful to see.”
Dahbour said his WhatsApp messages include pictures of food that friends living in Gaza sent, showing the high prices due to scarcity during the war. He showed us one picture of a dozen vegetables.
“It’s like 154 shekels. That’s $50 worth of food,” Dahbour said.
Now, as the hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees have been released from Israel and the 20 surviving hostages from the October 7, 2023, attack are freed, the two sides of this brutal war have one common goal: peace.
“This means the beginning of hope,” Alfi said. “Hope that we can actually have peace.”
“I’m very skeptical but very hopeful because we only have hope to hold onto,” Dabhoer said.