J Street welcomes reports that an agreement has been reached for a ceasefire and hostage deal that aims to release all hostages held by Hamas – living and deceased – and bring a permanent end to the catastrophic war in Gaza.

“We share in the joy and relief of the hostage families who will be reunited with their loved ones, and in the hope that the long-running nightmare of active fighting in Gaza may now be brought to an end,” said J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami. “Implementation of the agreement will now be key: All the hostages have to come home. Rockets need to stop. Forces must pull back. Aid has to get in. The war needs to end.”

“We also hope that this agreement marks the beginning of the end of the daily pain and terror endured by so many families in Gaza and all of the displaced residents of Israel’s south.”

“There are extremists on both sides waiting to play the spoiler. We cannot allow them to succeed. We cannot return to the death and anguish of the past 15 and a half months,” Ben-Ami said.

To ensure we don’t go backward, it’s critical that all parties remain committed to the difficult negotiations ahead to implement the next phases of the agreement so that all the remaining hostages are released and a permanent ceasefire deal is reached, signed and enforced.

“The negotiating teams from the US, Qatar and Egypt deserve our enormous gratitude for getting us to this point. It is heartening to see representatives of the incoming Trump Administration working side-by-side with Biden Administration officials to exert the requisite pressure on the parties to get this deal over the finish line,” Ben-Ami said. “The work won’t be over until every last hostage is released, IDF troops are out of Gaza, a post-war plan is in place, and rebuilding begins.”

J Street urges the incoming administration and regional partners to collaborate on the rapid development of a longer-term plan that resolves the underlying conflict between Israelis and Palestinians and creates a path toward normalization of Israel’s relations with its neighbors, comprehensive regional security and Palestinian statehood.

As outlined in J Street’s own five point plan – and in a speech delivered by Secretary of State Blinken yesterday – any “day after” plan must include governance reforms of the Palestinian Authority, international engagement in creating security in the Gaza Strip, and a surge in humanitarian aid and reconstruction efforts that would ultimately lead to a Palestinian state.

“The only way to ensure the horrors of the past 467 days cannot be repeated is a diplomatic deal to end the underlying conflict. As Secretary Blinken said yesterday, Hamas cannot be defeated by military force alone. Without a clear alternative and a credible political path for the Palestinians, Hamas, or something perhaps even worse, will fill the void,” Ben-Ami said. “A President who fancies himself a dealmaker in chief has a historic opportunity to land a 23-state regional security agreement that culminates in a Palestinian state alongside Israel and ends the conflict for good.”

“All of us who care about Israelis and Palestinians have a duty to press for this better future,” Ben-Ami said. “We owe it to those we have lost and to the generations to come.”