Joy, Relief, and the Weight of What's Next
After two years of anguish, they’re home. Now the ceasefire brings hope to Israelis and Palestinians — and an uncertain beginning.
Watch my conversation with Middle East expert Ilan Goldenberg.
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Today marks a watershed moment. After two years of devastating war, all remaining living hostages crossed back into Israel. A ceasefire is holding in Gaza, hundreds of Palestinian detainees returned home, and Palestinian families are making their way back to what remains of their communities. In Egypt, President Trump met with Arab and Muslim leaders to define the terms of peace — though tellingly neither Israeli nor Hamas representatives were at that table.
Trump called this “the historic dawn of a new Middle East.” Maybe. A ceasefire is not peace. It’s a pause, precious but fragile. The question is whether today’s momentum can be channeled into something lasting.
There is now a narrow window to build toward comprehensive regional peace. It begins with hammering out the details in this peace plan, and requires relentless diplomacy, sustained pressure, and extraordinary goodwill to become permanent. The ideas aren’t new. They trace back through multiple administrations’ proposals. But the hardest questions remain: Who will govern Gaza, and can they provide security for both Israelis and Palestinians? How does reconstruction proceed without entrenching Hamas’s control? And will leadership on both sides emerge that’s capable of moving beyond this war toward a negotiated peace?
To understand what’s achievable, I spoke with Ilan Goldenberg, who has dedicated his career to Middle East peace through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Obama and Biden administrations, where he helped develop proposals that shaped today’s agreements. He recently joined J Street, which we discuss.
I asked him: What happens next? Can this hold? And most importantly, how do all parties turn today’s promise into lasting peace and security?
A note before you watch and read: Any discussion of this conflict invites criticism for language choices, for narrative framing, for just about anything.
But today, of all days, there is reason for hope. And hope requires something difficult from all of us. If we’re asking Israelis and Palestinians — people who live with justified fear and rage, who have lost loved ones, whose communities have been shattered — to set aside their grievances enough to make peace, then surely we can practice grace with one another.
Peace requires accepting complexity. It requires seeing the humanity in those we disagree with. That work doesn’t start in Sharm El-Sheikh or Gaza City or Jerusalem. It starts with each of us, in how we engage these conversations.
You can watch my full interview with Ilan Goldenberg above. Today’s news follows below.
“War Is Over,” But What’s Next?
Home At Last: In Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square, some 65,000 people erupted into cheers this morning as a military helicopter circled overhead, carrying one of the 20 living hostages released from Gaza today as part of a peace deal between Israel and Hamas. Millions throughout Israel and around the world celebrated as the men were returned home after more than two years of captivity. Millions more welcomed the subsequent release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. A day of celebration, to be sure — but underneath the optimism lay grief for those who would never come home, and worry for the future of a tentative peace that, no matter what President Trump claims, is far from settled.
Tears of Joy: The hostages, gaunt but smiling, were taken to a border facility, where they fell into the arms of waiting loved ones — mothers, siblings, partners — many of whom had spent the last two years tirelessly campaigning for their release. “After two years of suffering, he is here,” said the family of Evyatar David; the 24-year-old, one of several hostages taken from the Nova music festival, was last seen in a video published by Hamas in August, in which he was forced to dig his own grave. “We did not give up faith,” said the family of Bar Kupershtein, a security guard at the festival who relatives said stayed behind to help rescue others before being kidnapped. “We did not lose hope.” Twin brothers Gali and Ziv Berman, among 17 people taken from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, were reunited after reportedly spending the entirety of their captivity apart, the longest they’ve ever been separated.
Road to Recovery: The 20 hostages, many of them emaciated, were taken to hospitals for treatment and rehabilitation. Ohad Ben Ami, a hostage released in February during the previous ceasefire, welcomed his former cellmates. “I love you,” he said. “I will finally see you and hold you, we will do all the things we planned after you reunite with your families. You’ll recover, you’ll see — I regained all of my weight.”
Fearing the Worst: Two hostages who were thought to be alive were not included on Hamas’ list. Bipin Joshi was a student from Nepal who arrived in Israel just weeks before he was kidnapped from Kibbutz Alumim. His remains were returned today. Tamir Nimrodi was an 18-year-old education officer in Israel’s military abducted from a military base near Gaza. His mother said recently that “it doesn’t feel like two years. It feels like one long exhausting day.” “He always said I was his best friend,” she said. “I pray for the chance to have moments with him again. The emptiness in my heart is indescribable.”
The Full List: The hostages were among 251 people taken by militants during Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023. They were captured on Kibbutzes, at the Nova music festival, from tanks and military bases. They are all men; in the previous two ceasefire deals Hamas prioritized releasing women, children, the elderly, infirm, and civilian youth.
Living and Dead: Hamas also handed over coffins containing the remains of four deceased hostages today. It said they were Daniel Peretz, Yossi Sharabi, Guy Illouz, and Bipin Joshi. That leaves 24 other bodies still in Gaza. The Hostages and Missing Families’ Forum condemned Hamas’ failure to return all the bodies as required by the ceasefire deal. “This is a brazen violation of the agreement,” the group stated. “We will not give up on a single hostage. The mediators must enforce the terms of the deal and exact a price from Hamas for this breach.” Hamas told mediators during negotiations that it didn’t know the location of all the bodies; a multinational taskforce will reportedly be established to find them.
Deadlock: Late on Wednesday night, peace talks were deadlocked; Hamas officials reportedly feared that Israel would resume fighting after receiving the hostages. What convinced them that Trump could be trusted to ensure that didn’t happen? Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The pair reportedly met personally with senior Hamas leaders in Egypt to assure them the US was serious about working toward a lasting peace.
Reunited: In the West Bank, crowds cheered as almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees were released today though Israel forbade celebrations. Some prisoners had been jailed for decades; others emerged in terrible shape, covered in bruises and unable to walk. Crowds gathered on the hill overlooking Ofer Prison where one release was taking place; Israeli troops fired tear gas and rubber bullets, breaking up the crowd.
Convicted For Terror: Most of the 250 prisoners released had received life sentences, some for committing terror attacks that killed Israeli soldiers and civilians. Many of them were arrested during the Second Intifada, an uprising that saw armed groups kill hundreds of Israelis. Of the 250, 154 were exiled, and the rest returned to East Jerusalem, the West Bank, or Gaza. Hassan Salama, for example, was sentenced to over 40 life terms for masterminding a series of suicide bombings in 1996 that killed dozens and wounded hundreds in Israel.
Detained Without Trial: The remaining roughly 1,700 Palestinians freed today are just some of the several thousand men, women, and children detained in Gaza over the last two years. Many were held for years without charge or trial and were denied access to lawyers under legislation (the amended Unlawful Combatants Law) allowing indefinite imprisonment. According to Israel’s military intelligence, one in four of the Palestinians detained without charge or trial during the war were fighters. Detainees are kept in what B’tselem, an Israeli human rights organization critical of detention policies, described as “a network of camps dedicated to the abuse of inmates as a matter of policy.”
Confusion and Sorrow: Some families of detainees who were told their relatives would be returning home today waited anxiously — only to discover their loved ones were not being released after all, or would be deported. Two different prisoner lists were reportedly circulated.
Ongoing Grief: The peace comes too late for the tens of thousands of Palestinians killed over the last two years, many of them women and children. Those who survived now have to try to rebuild their lives — in some cases, to recover from injuries and malnutrition — while coping with unfathomable grief. “I lost a sister, a brother, and nearly 40 relatives,” one person told the New York Times. “That alone feels like more than enough grief for one lifetime.” Tens of thousands of displaced people have begun long walks back to the ruins of their homes; many were displaced several times. “It’s important that the bombing has stopped,” Saed Abu Aita told NYT. “But there’s nothing to be happy about. My two daughters were killed, my home was destroyed and my health has deteriorated.”
Momentum for Peace: Trump arrived in Israel today to a hero’s welcome. Israelis expressed their gratitude for his work brokering this deal in huge murals across Tel Aviv and an inscription in sand that was visible from Air Force One. Trump became the first US president in over 15 years to address the Knesset. “You’ve won,” Trump said. “Now it is time to translate these victories … into the ultimate prize of peace and prosperity for the entire Middle East.” He even extended “the hand of friendship and cooperation” to Iran. “I’m telling you,” he claimed, “they want to make a deal.” “The war is over,” Trump assured reporters on Air Force One. “I think [the region] is going to normalize.” This is doubtless an historic, opportune moment to build a lasting peace — but there are still many difficult questions to answer.
Questions Remain: Qatar’s prime minister, one of the central mediators, said both sides delayed discussing more sensitive issues because neither could reach an agreement. “If we went for full-package negotiations,” he said, “we wouldn’t have reached these results.” But those issues still need to be addressed. Illan Goldenberg and I get into all this in the discussion at the top of the newsletter.
What’s Next: According to the 20-point peace deal, Gaza will be demilitarized. It will be governed by a transitional committee of Palestinians, which itself will interact with an international “Board of Peace” chaired by Trump. In the long term, the deal calls for a “Trump economic development plan to rebuild and energize Gaza.” That may sound great, but will be extremely difficult to implement. Analyses of the destruction vary, but Hebrew University estimated in July that at least 70% of all buildings throughout Gaza have been leveled. “The residents of Gaza have nowhere to return to,” a professor at the university said. Rebuilding while standing up infrastructure to ensure the health and well being of Palestinian civilians – even establishing schools for Palestinian children – is an enormous undertaking. Then there’s the question of ensuring the rebuild benefits devastated local communities, not just outside investors.
Issue of Arms: Among the unresolved questions is the disarmament of Hamas, something the group has publicly opposed. Since the ceasefire, Hamas militants have violently clashed with armed opponents within Gaza, killing dozens including journalist/influencer Saleh al-Jafarawi, which has gotten enormous attention on social media. Trump today suggested Hamas is being tasked with keeping the “peace” in Gaza. He said Hamas “want[s] to stop the problems, and they’ve been open about it, and we gave them approval for a period of time.”
Boots on the Ground: Egypt says it will send troops to Gaza. It remains unclear how many troops will take part in the peace deal’s “international stabilization force” — CNN’s Nic Robertson today suggested the figure could be between 20-40,000 — nor exactly what mandate they will have. Speaking on CNN, Egypt’s foreign minister said negotiators still have to resolve the question of “is this peace enforcing or peace keeping?” He also insisted that US troops will be needed in Gaza, something the US has not been open to. (Goldenberg explains more in our conversation.) Roughly 200 US troops have been moved to Israel “to monitor the terms of the ceasefire” and “ensure that the humanitarian aid is flowing,” Vance said.
Whose Rule: Other questions include who exactly will govern Gaza in the short-term — no small task, given widespread disagreements, rival factions and the general state of crisis in Gaza.
Israel’s Leadership: Then there’s the future of Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu. Trump today hailed him as “one of the greatest wartime presidents.” But many in Israel — let alone around the world — view him unfavorably. He’s accused of prolonging the war to save himself from an ongoing trial into alleged bribery, fraud, and corruption. And there’s the question of how Israel was so vulnerable to the attack on October 7. Netanyahu faces an election next year.
Same Old Trump: Unsurprisingly, there were some unfiltered and striking off-mic moments as well. Trump used his speech at the Knesset to criticize former President Joe Biden, thank a top donor in the audience, and pressure Israel’s president to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And that wasn’t even the wildest moment of the day. Trump was caught on mic agreeing to have his son, Eric, call the president of Indonesia for a meeting. “He’s such a good boy,” Trump says. “I’ll have Eric call.” (Eric Trump is an executive vice president of the Trump Organization, not a government official.) While awkwardly handshaking an official from the UAE, Trump pointed at the official and said, “A lot of cash — unlimited cash.”
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