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Israeli Hostage Families, American Jewish Organizations Welcome Trump’s Gaza Peace Plan

US President Donald Trump speaks to the press before boarding Marine One to depart for Quantico, Virginia, from the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Sept. 30, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ken Cedeno
American Jewish organizations and Israeli hostage families largely came out in support of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, which he announced on Monday.
The plan, which Israel already accepted and Hamas is currently reviewing, has 20 points — including the release of the Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas, the replacement of Hamas as the political administration in Gaza, and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from the war-torn enclave.
Aside from the US and Israel, the proposal has the backing of many Arab and Muslim countries, including Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia. Fatah, the political party that leads the Palestinian Authority, also came out in support of the deal.
In response to the announcement, hostage families in Israel and American Jewish organizations similarly expressed support.
“After almost two years of unimaginable anguish, we stand at a historic turning point,” the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, the main organization of hostage families, posted on X. “We are profoundly grateful to President Trump for his unwavering commitment to our families and the state of Israel, and for achieving what we have been desperately seeking since Oct. 7 – a deal to bring all our loved ones home.”
Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists kidnapped 251 hostages and murdered about 1,200 people during their brutal invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, launching the war in Gaza. Currently, 48 hostages remain in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive.
“President Trump has accomplished what many said was impossible. His determination never wavered, even when others lost hope,” the forum added in its statement. “This is a historic agreement that will allow our people to heal, end the war, and chart a new future for the Middle East. We commend Prime Minister Netanyahu for accepting President Trump’s initiative and call on him to immediately order a cessation of fighting in Gaza, which continues to endanger the fate of our hostages.”
The Tikva Forum, which also represents hostage families and is more right-wing politically, also came out in favor of the deal.
“According to the proposed agreement, Hamas will be defeated and will no longer pose a threat to Israel’s citizens,” it wrote on X. “We believe this is the only path to prevent hostage-taking in the future and ensure the release of our loved ones.”
“At these moments our hearts are with the bereaved families, with the wounded, and with our heroic fighters, whose steadfastness and dedication have created the conditions for an agreement,” the Tikva Forum continued. “However, Israel must continue to stand guard. For as long as these objectives have not been fully achieved, we cannot lay down our arms.”
American Jewish organizations also came out in favor of the deal.
The American Jewish Committee wrote that it “welcomes Israel’s acceptance of the US plan, as well as the regional Arab and international support outlined by President Trump. The world should be united in ensuring this plan can succeed. It is now up to Hamas to put an end to this violent conflict it started on Oct. 7.”
In addition, the AJC added that they “thank the Trump administration for its sustained leadership in its effort to bring an end to this war that preserves Israel’s security and sees the return of all remaining hostages, and provides a path to long-term durable peace that sees a prosperous future for both Israelis and Palestinians.”
The Jewish Federations of North America said in a statement that they “welcome the deal to release all the remaining hostages and end the war in Gaza announced by President Donald J. Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today.”
“Every day for nearly two years, our community has lived with the pain of knowing our people are suffering in captivity, and watched Israel come under attack as it tried to defend itself from a genocidal terrorist group on its borders,” it continued. “We hope and pray that this deal will come to fruition and bring the remaining hostages home to their families.”
The Anti-Defamation League also wrote that they “commend” the announcement of the plan.
“We urge governments and people worldwide to use all available levers to pressure Hamas to accept and implement the agreement as soon as possible,” the ADL added.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which lobbies in favor of the US-Israel relationship, also came out in favor of the plan. “We welcome the announcement today of a plan to end the conflict in Gaza, disarm Hamas, and free the hostages. We appreciate the determined efforts of President Donald Trump and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to help negotiate this plan together with Israel,” AIPAC said in a statement.
“This peace plan has the wide support of the United States, Israel, and several Arab countries. Now the onus is on Hamas to agree to the plan, disarm, and free the hostages who have been brutally held captive in violation of law and basic morality. If Hamas agrees to the implementation of this plan, aid will further surge to Gazan civilians to help ameliorate the humanitarian situation,” the group added.
“Hamas started this war on Oct. 7 with one of the most barbaric assaults imaginable. Since then, the Iranian-backed terror group has proceeded to use Palestinians in Gaza as human shields for its maniacal war against the Jewish state, bringing terrible death, destruction and humanitarian crises to Gaza,” AIPAC said. “American and world leaders must now pressure Hamas to agree to the peace plan and adhere to its terms and implementation.”
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War

Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests

A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan

Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.