STORY: :: A hostage relative is among Tel Aviv residents to welcome 'any' kind of Gaza ceasefire deal

:: January 19, 2025

:: Tel Aviv, Israel

:: Maya Roman, Cousin of hostage

:: "This isn't a perfect deal because it's not for everyone in the initial stage, but all of us know that we need the deal that we can get. The best deal is the deal that we can get, which is why most of the families are supportive of this deal. But at the same time are trying to make sure we reach the end of it, which is not a guarantee."

:: Tzurit Or, Israeli resident

:: "I'm thrilled, emotional, excited about the hostages coming back home. There is a fear of forgetting a few of them, and I hope that Israel will do the right thing by everyone."

:: Gad Weissfeld, Israeli resident

:: "Any deal is a good deal when you deal with the devil and at the very end of the routes, I hope there will be a peace in our area and very good relationship. I also pity the Gazan people that they are under this terrorist organisation, under the control, under the fear and I wish there will be peace, a new era."

The highly anticipated ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip took effect on Sunday after a nearly three-hour delay, pausing a 15-month-old war that has brought devastation and seismic political change to the Middle East.

The agreement provides for the phased release of dozens of hostages Hamas still held in Gaza in return for Israel's release of hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Hamas is set to release the first three female hostages on Sunday in exchange for 30 Palestinians each.

The group will inform the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) where the meeting point will be inside Gaza and the ICRC is expected to begin driving to that location to collect the hostages, an official involved in the process told Reuters.

In the first stage of the deal, 33 of the remaining 98 hostages in Gaza - women, children, men over 50, the ill and wounded - will be released in return for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees over the next six weeks.