WASHINGTON – On January 15, Israel and Hamas agreed to an initial hostage agreement that will free 33 hostages, primarily women, children, elderly, and wounded Israelis, as well as hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, and allow Palestinians to return to Northern Gaza. T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights — an organization that mobilizes 2,300 rabbis and cantors as human rights leaders — welcomed this initial agreement with gratitude that families will be reunited, fear for what comes next, and anger at those who delayed this step for so long. They encouraged the parties to move quickly toward a final agreement that would bring home the hostages and end the war, acknowledging the long road ahead.
Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah, said:
“T’ruah welcomes this agreement with a mix of emotions. For more than a year, T’ruah has called for an agreement that would bring home the Israeli hostages and end the war, in order to stop the suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians. We have protested on the street with hostage families in Israel, New York, DC, and beyond, and have demanded that Israeli, U.S., and international bodies prioritize such an agreement.
“We feel deep joy and relief that some families will now be able to welcome their loved ones home and to begin the healing process. We are grateful to the Biden administration for their ongoing efforts over the past 15 months to bring about such an agreement, as well as the efforts of Qatar and other countries and international bodies that participated in the negotiations. We urge these parties to work swiftly to bring the remaining living hostages home, as well as to bring home those who have died in captivity for dignified burials in Israel.
“We are also glad that Palestinian families will be able to return to northern Gaza to begin to rebuild their lives there — and we recognize that most of them do not have homes or communities to return to. We call on the Israeli government, Hamas, the U.S. government, and international bodies to move quickly to end this war, to ensure appropriate humanitarian relief for Gaza, and to establish a plan for long-term rebuilding and governance.
“Our relief and joy at this agreement is tempered by anger and the somber knowledge that this agreement could have been finalized months ago, and could have saved many more lives. In addition, this agreement will take 42 days even to return the first group of hostages, who have already spent far too long in the tunnels.
“Over the past year, we have joined families of Israeli hostages in their protests against the Netanyahu government, which time and time again has abandoned the hostages — in a clear violation of the Jewish imperative of pidyon shevuiim — in order to pursue other war goals, which even top military and defense brass have assessed as being devoid of strategy. The Israeli government has ignored, disparaged, and employed police violence against families of hostages desperately fighting for the lives of their loved ones. Even as this new hostage agreement was coming together, members of Netanyahu’s coalition who profess to be observant Jews loudly opposed it and even proudly announced that they have delayed such an agreement for months, while pushing forward a dangerous agenda to resettle Northern Gaza. In the meantime, hostages have languished and died in the tunnels; Palestinians have been killed, displaced, and suffered from hunger and disease; young Israeli soldiers have been sent to die in a war of attrition; and Israelis have been living under ongoing missile attacks by Hamas and their allies.
“Our tradition teaches us to be rodfei shalom, seekers of peace, including attempting to achieve a peace agreement before engaging in warfare. The terms of such agreements are rarely easy, and come with sacrifices, but are necessary to save lives and to bring about a more hopeful future. We know that this agreement is not an end, but only a first step toward ending the brutal pain of the last 15 months. Today, we recommit to the tremendous work that lies ahead to bring about a long-term solution that will ensure the security, safety, and dignity of both Israelis and Palestinians.”
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About T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights: T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights brings the Torah’s ideals of human dignity, equality, and justice to life by empowering our network of over 2,300 rabbis and cantors to be moral voices and to lead Jewish communities in advancing democracy and human rights for all people in the United States, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territories.