Desolation and anguish gave way to celebration and hope. With the announcement of the ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hamas, thousands of Palestinians rejoiced throughout the Gaza Strip, almost all of whose 2.4 million inhabitants fled their homes to try to escape the fighting and shelling. .
In particular, scenes of joy were seen in Khan Younes in the Gaza Strip, with one person brandishing Palestinian flags.
In Tel Aviv, in Hostage Square, named after the October 7 attacks, residents waver between caution and new hope. A state of mind shared by Shiri Bibas’s cousin, kidnapped with her family, interviewed by our BFMTV special correspondent Clémence Dibout.
“It’s very hard, very difficult at a time for our family because we still don’t know if they are in Gaza,” he said. “We have no news, no one has had contact with them.”
“We always have hope, the hope of seeing them again as soon as possible and alive,” added Shiri Bibas’ cousin.
An agreement in two phases
In a first phase, 33 hostages should be released, starting with women and children, in exchange for a thousand Palestinians detained by Israel, according to two sources close to the negotiations.
The second phase will concern the release of the last hostages, “soldiers and men of draft age,” as well as the return of the bodies of the dead hostages, according to the Times of Israel.
An Israeli official, however, warned Tuesday that Israel “will not leave Gaza until all the hostages have returned, the living and the dead.”
The talks intensified ahead of the return of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States, Israel’s main ally, on January 20, amid greater international pressure on the different parties. Donald Trump recently promised “hell” in the region if the hostages were not freed before his return.
Source: BFM TV
