Relief and disbelief greet Gaza ceasefire announcement in Israel

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Across Israeli society, the absorption to the quality of a Gaza ceasefire woody has been astir uniform: Joy.

In Tel Aviv, the families of those taken captive during the Hamas-led onslaught connected Israel successful October 2023 celebrated connected Thursday aft the announcement. And a antheral dressed arsenic United States President Donald Trump – who played a ample portion successful brokering the woody – carried Israeli and US flags and posed for photographs with smiling passersby.

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Two years of warfare connected Gaza person fractured Israeli society. The number who person openly opposed Israel’s sidesplitting of much than 67,000 Palestinians accidental they person been ostracised, portion those who cheered connected what experts person confirmed is simply a genocide person been near angered by increasing planetary condemnation of Israel’s aggression.

“I cried erstwhile I got the news,” Israeli governmental expert Nimrod Flaschenberg said from Berlin. “It’s truly big. It’s similar there’s a implicit affectional unravelling crossed Israel; it’s similar radical are decompressing. There’s conscionable massive, monolithic relief.”

Gaza ceasefire woody  brings anticipation  aft  years of devastationA idiosyncratic wearing a disguise depicting US President Donald Trump holds US and Israeli flags aft the ceasefire and captives woody declared by Trump, astatine the alleged Hostage Square successful Tel Aviv, connected October 9, 2025 [Maya Levin/AFP]

Cautiously optimistic

For some, the quality seems excessively bully to beryllium true, with speculation and nerves turning to however the ceasefire whitethorn yet unravel, arsenic a woody earlier this twelvemonth did.

“Everyone is happy. It’s what we’ve been calling for for 2 years,” said Aida Touma-Suleiman, a subordinate of parliament from the left-wing Hadash-Ta’al party. “I’ve been watching videos from Gaza, tv from Tel Aviv showing the families of the hostages: Everyone is happy.

“Though there’s inactive caution,” she added. “There’s a feeling that someone, determination volition find a crushed to instrumentality to the war. People don’t spot this authorities – not conscionable successful Gaza, but successful Israel, too.”

Much of that uncertainty centres connected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has antecedently resisted calls to extremity the warfare astatine each opportunity.

Accusations from governmental opponents and captives’ families that helium was prolonging the struggle for his ain governmental ends – to guarantee that his conjugation holds unneurotic – person persisted passim the war. Former US President Joe Biden besides suggested that whitethorn beryllium the case.

Today’s ceasefire does small to region that suspicion. Netanyahu inactive faces the imaginable of a verdict successful his long-running corruption trial, an inquiry into his ain failings earlier the October 7 attack, arsenic good arsenic the contention implicit extending Israel’s subject draft to its ultra-Orthodox community, whose parties are an important portion of Netanyahu’s governing coalition. All of these person been conveniently relegated to secondary concerns portion the warfare connected Gaza has continued, but that volition alteration erstwhile the warring ends.

Palestinian children observe  successful  Khan Yunis connected  October 9, 2025, pursuing  quality    of a caller   Gaza ceasefire deal.Palestinian children observe successful Khan Younis connected October 9, 2025, pursuing quality of a caller Gaza ceasefire woody [AFP]

Nevertheless, with elections owed by adjacent year, oregon perchance adjacent earlier, Netanyahu has successes that helium tin constituent to, peculiarly successful weakening the Iranian-backed “axis of resistance” successful the wider region. Perhaps astir notable were the 12-day warfare with Iran successful June, and the decapitation of overmuch of the Lebanese radical Hezbollah’s enactment successful a warfare past year.

“Netanyahu is going to represent this arsenic a victory,” the premier minister’s erstwhile adjutant and governmental pollster, Mitchell Barak, told Al Jazeera from West Jerusalem. “He tin accidental he’s achieved everything helium wanted to astatine the commencement of the war. He’s got the hostages back, he’s destroyed Hamas. On the sidelines of this, he’ll besides assertion that helium utilized the accidental to hitch retired Hezbollah, weaken Iran and ticker implicit arsenic the Syrian authorities fell. He’s reshaped the Middle East, he’ll claim, and removed many, if not all, of the main threats facing Israel.”

Others successful Netanyahu’s far-right conjugation already look acceptable to reason the deal. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir person voiced hostility to the ceasefire, and person antecedently pledged to permission the authorities if a woody is passed that they bash not hold with. However, what meaningful absorption they tin muster –  with Israel’s governmental absorption already pledging to enactment the authorities to unafraid the woody – is unclear.

Gaza residents flood streets successful  anticipation  of ending prolonged warA miss wraps herself successful a Palestinian flag, aft US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas agreed connected the archetypal signifier of a Gaza ceasefire, successful the cardinal Gaza Strip, October 9, 2025 [Mahmoud Issa/Reuters]

“Hadash and the alleged absorption person each said they’ll enactment the ceasefire,” Touma-Suleiman said of a mainstream absorption that has, done the past 2 years, mostly backed Israel’s actions successful Gaza. “Ben-Gvir and Smotrich volition marque immoderate noise, but they can’t truly bash much.”

The manus of Trump

How overmuch the Israeli nationalist credits Netanyahu, arsenic opposed to Trump, for the ceasefire is unclear.

The US has been Israel’s staunchest state amid planetary disapproval of its actions successful Gaza. In summation to its broad backing astatine the United Nations, reports from Brown University’s Costs of War Project released this week confirmed what galore agelong suspected: That the US treasury mostly financed Israel’s warfare connected Gaza and its attacks crossed the region.

However, for galore Israelis, Israel’s failed onslaught connected Hamas negotiators successful Qatar and the unified effect from Arab states proved a turning constituent for the US medication and its priorities wrong the Middle East, and yet led to Trump telling Netanyahu that helium had to hold to a woody and extremity the war.

“I deliberation Trump, allied with this conjugation of Muslim and Arab states specified arsenic Turkiye and Qatar, astir apt succeeded successful forcing the Israeli government’s hand,” Flashenberg said. “This could person been reached earlier, which suggests Trump forced it.”

Marco Rubio leans implicit    to susurration  successful  Donald Trump's receptor  astatine  a roundtable he's seated at.Secretary of State Marco Rubio whispers to President Donald Trump aft passing him a enactment believed to accidental that the ceasefire was ‘very close’ [Evan Vucci/AP Photo]

The aboriginal is unwritten

“Netanyahu has to implicit the archetypal stage,” Touma-Suleiman said of the loosely worded ceasefire plan. “We cognize that, but there’s inactive a batch we don’t cognize astir the 2nd phase.

“That’s inactive to beryllium negotiated – and connected Israel’s side, those negotiations are going to beryllium led by a authorities that is astir apt looking to restart the war.”

However, immoderate effort to resume hostilities would unfold against the backdrop of an unpredictable US president who, having sent his peculiar envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner to negociate the ceasefire, appears heavy invested successful the process.

“How agelong this volition past depends connected Trump,” Barak said. “He uses the presidency arsenic a planetary bully pulpit. He’s shown he’s acceptable to bash anything, irrespective of the norms, arsenic helium writes his ain rulebook with caller norms.

“Israel has ever been a captious state of the US successful the Middle East, arsenic good arsenic its astir favoured nation, but it’s not truly wide immoderate much if Trump peculiarly cares astir captious allies oregon favoured nations, oregon adjacent overseas allies successful general,” Barak continued. “He wants peace, and Netanyahu knows that. He knows Trump could truly permission him – and that would beryllium a disaster.

“Trump could locomotion away, and Netanyahu knows it.”

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