Tonight, as Israel prepares for Shabbat, we allow ourselves something we have not felt for far too long: gratitude without apology. The guns are scheduled to fall silent this evening, and by early next week, if the agreement holds, our sons and daughters should be on their way home. That alone is reason enough to rejoice, to pray, and to hope.
According to the terms conveyed to The Jerusalem Post, once the government ratifies the agreement, Hamas will have 72 hours to release every hostage, living and deceased. Officials say the releases could be completed by Monday.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the agreement was “a major achievement for the State of Israel,” adding that the long-claimed contradiction between freeing the hostages and achieving the war’s aims has been disproved.
This newspaper has not hesitated to criticize the key actors when criticism was due. We will continue to do so when necessary. But today we say thank you.
We thank President Donald Trump for forcing momentum when there was drift, and for stitching together a single corridor in which Qatar, Egypt, Turkey, and Israel could finally move the pieces into place. Our analysis has documented how his pressure, sequencing, and deadlines produced a breakthrough in days, not months.
We thank Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for keeping Israel’s redlines on the table while accepting a sequence that prioritizes lives returning home now.
We thank Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a central hand on the hostage track in the darkest weeks, who absorbed political fire so that talks could continue.
And we thank Steve Witkoff, who joined the American effort at a critical moment in Sharm el-Sheikh and helped keep doors open that might otherwise have slammed shut.
We thank, above all, the families who never stopped believing. Your courage anchored a nation that often felt lost.
The dancing in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square last night was not triumphalism. It was a country breathing for the first time in two years.
There is more to be grateful for. Despite a brutal war and heavy external pressure, Israel held firm on core principles. The government has maintained that the most notorious masterminds of mass murder will not walk free.
As officials confirmed, Marwan Barghouti and several other high-profile prisoners are not included in this deal. Israel has also refused to release terrorists from the Nukhba force that carried out the October 7 massacre.
None of this denies the complexity ahead. The agreement is a road map, not a finish line. Our analysis shows both sides made rare, real concessions. Hamas agreed to give up its most valuable leverage, the hostages, at once.
Israel accepted a pause while mechanisms for enforcement take shape, and it is preparing to redeploy to predesignated lines inside Gaza under the plan’s first phase.
Sequencing will now test everyone’s discipline and honesty.
Israel’s obligation begins anew
When the first hostages cross the threshold, Israel’s obligation begins anew. We must fund and staff the medical, psychological, and social-service surge these families will need for years, not months. Communities must organize practical help, meals, transportation, tutoring, and company.
Diplomatically, the work is only starting. Sa’ar has already begun urging European partners to lift punitive measures now that a ceasefire is in place and an agreed mechanism exists. That call should be echoed by friends of Israel across the democratic world and be answered. The same is true for the positive track.
In Jewish time, Friday is the day we prepare the table. We set out bread and wine, we invite peace into our homes, and we remember that rest is an act of faith. Tonight, we give thanks to God for the possibility of reunion, for leaders who delivered when it mattered, and for soldiers who created the conditions for diplomacy to work.
We rejoice with the families who will soon hold their children. We pray for the safe return of every last captive and for the dignity of those whose bodies are still to be found, a task that will continue under a joint mechanism established for that purpose.
And we choose hope. Hope that this agreement will hold. Hope that those who cheered murder will learn that there is no future in hate. Hope that our region can move from managing conflict to expanding peace.
There will be other editorials, full of scrutiny and argument, written in the clear light of day. This one is written in the soft light before Shabbat. It says, simply and sincerely: Todah.