Relatives of four hostages still held in Hamas's terror captivity in the Gaza Strip responded to US President Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan on Tuesday.
"Finally, we have a framework that includes the release of all the hostages and an end to the war," Ilan Dalal, father of hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal, said, adding that he is grateful to Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the plan, which "gives us tremendous hope for the return of our loved ones."
Dalal stated that world leaders who support ending the war, freeing hostages, and building a better future for Israelis and Palestinians "must pressure Hamas to accept this deal and end this tragedy."
Macabit Mayer, aunt of Ziv and Gali Berman stated that her heart was racing and she could not breathe, while commending Trump and his team "for their determination and vision."
She stated to Netanyahu that he promised her sister that Ziv and Gali would return home alive, affirming that it can still happen. She said that she will not be calm until she sees them in her sister's arms, safe, noting that it must happen quickly.
"The rescue and return of all the hostages, living and deceased, the withdrawal of soldiers from Gaza, the end of this endless war. An entire nation held its breath. An entire nation wants to breathe again," she concluded.
Rivka Bohbot, wife of hostage Elkana, said that Trump and Netanyahu's words were, to her, "not a political speech or moment of excitement," but rather "the question of my life and the life of my son Reem."
She added that she has been waiting for her husband "in endless pain" for two years, and demanded that the words spoken in the White House on Monday are "turned into even greater and more impressive actions that bring the hostages home."
Bar Godard, daughter of murdered hostage Meny Godard, commended Netanyahu for "finally making the right decision and saying 'yes' to this agreement."
Godard noted that these are "extremely tense days," and that hostage families have "experienced countless disappointments." Godard, therefore, believes that they will "only celebrate when all the hostages are on Israeli soil and all the soldiers have returned safely to their homes."
"Until this is signed, we will not rest easy knowing our loved ones are coming home," she concluded.
Israel will finish the job, UN envoy warns
If Palestinian terror group Hamas rejects Trump's Gaza peace plan, Israel will “finish the job” and bring home all the remaining hostages, Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon said on Tuesday.
"If they reject the plan, Israel will finish the job, either the easy way or the hard way. Their return cannot wait. This is not only a road map to bring them back. It is also a plan to end the tyranny of terror that was unleashed on October 7,” Danon told an event at the UN to mark the upcoming two-year anniversary of the Hamas massacre.
Several Israeli officials and world leaders welcomed the Gaza peace plan presented by US President Donald Trump in social media posts on Monday night.
President Isaac Herzog called for the "rapid implementation" of the plan, thanking Trump for his leadership and congratulating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the development, which would change "the reality in the Gaza Strip and the Middle East."
Herzog also emphasized that Hamas must also agree to the plan in order to "allow a future of hope for the peoples of the region."
Blue and White head Benny Gantz congratulated Trump on his peace plan, saying that Israel must seize the opportunity to end the war and return the remaining hostages in Gaza. "We must not miss the opportunity again to return our hostages, protect our security, and achieve a strategic shift that will also lead to the expansion of normalization in the future."
"We cannot allow petty politics to thwart the plan," he concluded.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid echoed the sentiment in his own social media post: "President Trump's plan is the right basis for a hostage deal and ending the war."
Yossi Fuchs, the government secretary, also applauded the plan in a post to X/Twitter, noting that it fulfills all of the conditions to end the war that the security cabinet agreed upon in early August.
However, he said, "the Palestinian Authority will not govern Gaza."
"I do not know what Hamas's response to the plan will be," Fuchs wrote, "but if it responds positively, it will be for three main reasons: the intense maneuver in the heart of Gaza City, the assassination attempt in Qatar, and the optimal diplomatic maneuver by Trump and Netanyahu that isolated Hamas from the Arab world."