SALT LAKE CITY — Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire in the war in Gaza and the release of 33 hostages. The deal would pause the devastation 15 months after Hamas attacked Israel.
The ceasefire raises the possibility of winding down some of the deadliest and most destructive fighting between the bitter enemies. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the ceasefire isn’t complete yet and final details are still being worked out.
Utahns on both sides of the issue are reacting to the news, expressing hope and optimism, but also reservation. Tala Hammond, a first-generation Palestinian American attending the University of Utah, says the ceasefire is promising but may not hold. She hopes for more accountability and notes the deal lacks any kind of aid package.
Hammond says, “It's not fixing that they don't have a home to go to, that the hospitals have been bombed. There's no health infrastructure. There's still so much more that needs to be done.”
Rabbi Sam Spector of Congregation Kol Ami says, “It's very tragic what's happened in Gaza where the Palestinians have lost so much. I'm hopeful that this war was so horrific on both sides, that both sides will say that we cannot allow this to happen again.”
Spector adds, “I'm hopeful that there are better days ahead for everyone involved.”
Rabbi Spector, who leads Congregation Kol Ami in Salt Lake City, explains that his congregants want a ceasefire that returns hostages and has measures in place to prevent future bloodshed.
Retired Col. Amos Guiora, a former Israeli Defense Forces officer and University of Utah law professor, says virtually anything could go wrong between now and Sunday, when the ceasefire begins, and thereafter at any time during the 42-day ceasefire.
Guiora remarks, “First of all, ceasefires can be tenuous is, I think, the correct word. And then the next question is, okay, let's say it holds for 42 days. And let's say all 100 hostages are released. What then? There are Gazans who absolutely need to have some kind of civil, civilian existence.”
Guiora states there is no victory here, and rebuilding Gaza will be a major international effort. With the democratically elected Hamas leadership currently weak, there is a power vacuum in Gaza.
Guiora asks, “Do the Gazans understand that Hamas caused them extraordinary damage? And will they finally take to the streets, or how do they begin rebuilding their lives as well? So what we call in Hebrew, the day after. I don't think we quite really have even begun thinking about what the day after is because I don't know when we will actually get to the day after.”
Guiora adds that U.S. leadership in all of this is crucial and notes that it’s interesting the ceasefire begins the day before President-elect Trump takes the oath of office. He says Trump’s intense pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the conflict is having a significant impact.
