We finally have a ceasefire and hostage deal. Words can’t express the overwhelming relief I feel.

We now have real hope that the anguish, death and devastation that the people of Israel and Gaza have suffered these past 467 days can finally end.

To be clear, it has taken far too long. Too many families in Israel and Gaza will never see loved ones again. Too many have had their worlds ripped apart. The trauma will last generations.

But while there will be years to litigate failures and missed opportunities, today, I can only share in the joy of families who I hope will soon be embracing their loved ones once again. I can only feel gratitude that this horrific war may soon be over – that food can reach those who don’t have enough. Help can reach those injured. The displaced may now find shelter.

Over the past year, the J Street community has worked closely with hostage families and peace advocates. We know many families in Israel and Gaza personally, and it’s our deepest wish that they are made whole and safe as soon as possible.

To everyone who pressed to get us to this point – who protested in Tel Aviv, signed petitions around the world, pressed their leaders for more, or pursued delicate diplomacy – I extend my most profound gratitude.

The work, however, is not over yet: We must ensure this ceasefire agreement holds and negotiations on the next phases succeed.

The deal must deliver: Each and every hostage must come home. The fighting must stop. Rockets must cease. Forces must pull back. Aid must flood in.

Extremists on both sides will seek to undermine this agreement. We cannot allow them to succeed. We cannot go back.

For more on the intricacies of the deal – and the challenges it faces – we were joined by former White House advisor Ilan Goldenberg and Middle East policy and Gaza expert Celine Touboul. Watch here >>

To ensure we never return to the horrors of October 7 and the ensuing war, it’s also essential that the United States, Israel, Palestinian leadership and pro-peace partners across the region hammer out a post-war plan.

Secretary of State Blinken outlined such a plan in a speech yesterday. While we have had our disagreements with the administration, I wholeheartedly support the clear, commonsense vision for peace, security and integration that the Secretary outlined yesterday.

It included clear post-war parameters:

• A red line against the return of Hamas or other terror groups.
• Palestinian governance of Gaza and the West Bank. No permanent occupation.
• No reduction in territory. No civilian displacement. No siege or blockade.

He said Israeli and Palestinian leaders must reckon with hard truths:

• Seven million Jewish Israelis and seven million Palestinians are rooted on the same land, neither peoples are going anywhere.
• “The PA will need to carry out swift, far-reaching reform to build more transparent, accountable governance.”
• “Israelis must abandon the myth that they can carry out de facto annexation without cost and consequence to Israel’s democracy, to its standing, to its security.”

Importantly, he made the case for a time-bound, condition-based pathway to Palestinian statehood and Israeli integration in the region:

• Time-bound because no one can be expected to believe or accept an endless process. Palestinians need and deserve a clear and immediate horizon for political self-determination.
• Conditions-based because Israel cannot be expected to accept a Palestinian state that is led by Hamas or other extremists, is militarized, or has independent armed militias aligned with Iran or rejecting Israel’s right to exist.

Finally, he laid out the choice that Israel must make: Between lasting peace and integration, and endless war and isolation.

• “We have long made the point to the Israeli government that Hamas cannot be defeated by a military campaign alone. That without a clear alternative, a post-conflict plan, and a credible political horizon for the Palestinians, Hamas – or something just as abhorrent and dangerous – will grow back.”
• “Each time Israel completes its military operations and pulls back [in North Gaza], Hamas militants regroup and reemerge because there is nothing else to fill the void. Indeed, we assess that Hamas has recruited almost as many new militants as it has lost. That is a recipe for an enduring insurgency and perpetual war.”

This deal, and the vision Secretary Blinken outlined yesterday, is what J Street and our pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy allies have spent over a year pressing for.

But it’s not enough to outline a vision, the incoming administration must show the leadership to make it a reality. To get every hostage home. To end this horrific conflict for good.

At J Street, we’ll build as broad and deep a movement as possible to champion real progress – across Israel, the United States and beyond. We’ll expose and resist those seeking to derail this path.

We’ll do everything we can to ensure we never return to the past 16 months of horror or the unsustainable pre-October 7 reality of endless terror and occupation that preceded it.

We owe it to those we have lost and to the generations to come.