Consider This from NPR - How the Hostage Deal Looks to Palestinians and Israelis

Episode Date: November 22, 2023

On Wednesday, Israel and Hamas announced details of a deal that calls for the freeing of at least 50 Israeli women and minors taken hostage during last month's Hamas attack on Israel in exchange for at least 150 Palestinian women and minors held in Israeli jails.NPR correspondents Brian Mann in Israel, and Lauren Frayer in the occupied West Bank, report on how Israelis and Palestinians are reacting to this moment.Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Their names have been read at vigils. Their photos are on posters in Israel and around the world. Their families have marched from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, calling for their freedom. Akshab! Akshab! Akshab! Now, if all goes well, some of the hostages Hamas captured during its attack on Israel on October 7th may finally be coming home. Our expectation is that a number will be released each day over the course of four days. That is John Feiner, White House Deputy National Security Advisor, speaking with NPR on Wednesday. The U.S., along with Qatar and Egypt, helped broker a deal.

While the text of the agreement has not been published, both sides have described some of the central principles. Hamas will release 50 hostages, women and minors. In exchange, Israel will release 150 women and minor prisoners and allow for a four-day pause in fighting. Of course, as we tape this Wednesday afternoon, there is still a possibility that the deal could fall apart before a single hostage is released. Each side has to hold up its end of the bargain. Here's Feiner. Until we actually see people moving across the border, we are going to continue to press that this deal be implemented as agreed and the proof will be in the pudding. On top of that, many are thinking about the hostages who aren't part of this deal, even as they welcome it.

Every hostage that is released, it's good. It's very good. Boaz Atsili's cousin and his cousin's wife have been missing since Hamas attacked their kibbutz. They're believed to be among the hostages held in Gaza. As an adult male, his cousin will not be included in this initial deal. I really hope that the deal

will be expanded, that they'll use the pause or ceasefire, whatever you want to call it, to expand the deal and to release all of the hostages. And no price is too high to pay for the life of so many people. Consider this. The release of prisoners and hostages offers a sign of hope and progress for the Israeli and Palestinian families who will be reunited. But an end to the conflict still seems extremely remote right now.

We'll hear from our reporters in the region. From NPR, I'm Ari Shapiro. It's Wednesday, November 22nd. Hey, it's Ari. We know you care about the in-depth reporting you hear on Consider This Every Day, and it's your financial support that makes our work possible. Because the thing is, even though our journalism is freely available, it's not free to produce. So a big shout out to our supporters and anyone listening who currently donates to public media. Thank you. You are making a real difference. And if you haven't donated yet and would like to make a difference, please go to donate.npr.org slash consider this. That's donate.npr.org.

Thank you, and now back to the episode. It's Consider This from NPR. Here are the broad outlines of the deal between Israel and Hamas. 50 hostages in Gaza will be freed in exchange for 150 Palestinians held by Israel. All of the hostages and prisoners will be women or minors. Israeli officials say a four-day pause in fighting will begin as soon as the first hostages are released. It's the first big break in the nearly seven-week-long conflict. NPR correspondents Brian Mann in Israel and Lauren Freyer in the Occupied West Bank have been talking with Israelis and Palestinians about

their reactions to this moment. My co-host, Juana Summers, checked in with them. We'll go first to Brian in Israel. And Brian, this conflict has been going on for nearly seven weeks. What more can you tell us about this deal? Yeah, this is a four-day pause in the fighting. And according to Israeli media, that's going to include Israel's ground assault and air operations. If things go as planned, Israelis are going to be released each day by Hamas. And while that's happening, aid groups are going to be rushing in food and fuel and medical supplies. The humanitarian crisis for civilians in Gaza has been dire, according to the United Nations and Gaza's health ministry. Israeli officials have indicated this pause could be extended for the release of more hostages and more Palestinian prisoners if all goes well. But it's important to say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said bluntly this war is not over. This is a pause, not a stable ceasefire. hostage when Hamas attacked, including 40 children as well as elderly Israelis. And they're expected

to be released first, according to a statement from Hamas. Brian, you spoke today to the sister of one of those hostages, an Israeli woman who might be freed soon. What did she have to say about this deal? Yeah, I met with Yarden Gonen, her younger sister Romy, who's 23 years old, was at that rave concert out in the desert that was attacked by Hamas. She was among those taken back into Gaza. Yarden told me this deal is the first real moment of hope for her family. It's 47 days. It's like we're literally stuck in the same day. So we are very welcoming everyone that came out of this terror and this horror. But in the same breath, it's really hard because maybe my sister is not going to be one of these 50 people.

So I'm trying not to get my hopes up. And this really has been a horrific time for the Gonen family. On October 7th, Yarden's mom got a call from Romi during the Hamas attack. She was terrified and had been shot in the hand, seriously injured. The family released a recording of part of that phone call, and NPR is using it here with their permission. You're not alone, Romy's mother says on the phone. You're with me. Yarden says on the phone that day they could hear Hamas fighters talking

and deciding to take Romy as one of their hostages. And now in the weeks since, they've had no new information, no hard facts, but Yarden is convinced Romy is still alive. We have a really strong intuition. We really feel her. I don't know how you can even be standing after this much uncertainty, this much fear and

sorrow. We have our own ups and downs. We have so much support. I have a new family right now. All of the families that are in the same boat as I am, suffering from the same pain and uncertainty. Yarden, her mom, her other three brothers and sisters have been coming to a square in Tel Aviv where the families of hostages are gathering each day and where other Israelis are keeping vigil. Hamas has signaled they'll release the youngest hostages first, along with some elderly Israelis. So despite Romy Gonen's injuries, and she also suffers from asthma, it appears possible and maybe even likely

Romy won't be released. I'm just keep on praying and sending really good energies. I'll be excited for anyone that will be outside. Really, because they are my family too. It won't be ended after these four days. We want everyone back and we need our government to act. This is something we're hearing from all the Israeli families. They want all the hostages home. And while I was talking to them here in Tel Aviv,

NPR's Lauren Frayer was in the West Bank talking to Palestinian families. Up a narrow walkway in a refugee camp in the West Bank, there's a construction site and it's strewn with banners with pictures of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and a smiling girl in a hijab. Her name is Nurhan. I haven't seen my daughter Nurhan since her arrest in 2015. She was just 16 then, says the girl's father, Ibrahim Awad. Nurhan Awad was arrested

in a stabbing attack with scissors on Israeli security officers at a checkpoint near Jerusalem. She was sentenced to 20 years in Israeli prison. Now she's on a list of 300 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, mostly women and juveniles,

eligible for release. Her father has hired a bulldozer to clear an area near their house for what he calls a liberation party. But he says his family's celebration is tempered with sadness for all the lives lost in Gaza. One of the officials who keeps track of Palestinian prisoners is a former prisoner himself. I have been born twice. One, the first day of my life, and the new life that I received when I have been released from jail. Kedura Faris was imprisoned in Israel for being a member of a Palestinian military cell and was released in 1994 as part

of a prisoner swap after the Oslo Peace Accords. He's now a Palestinian government official in charge of detainee issues. And he says Israeli troops stepped up arrest raids in the Israeli occupied West Bank during this war to have more detainees to negotiate with now. From 7th of October until today, Israel arrests more than 3,000 Palestinians, and the majority of them administrative detainees. That means they can be held without charge indefinitely. Fares says none of the Palestinians on this list are convicted murderers. There are some accused of violence, like Nurhan Awad. Other offenses include stone-throwing, incitement, and membership in what Israel

considers a terrorist group. But with this release, the Palestinians will be getting back only a fraction of the people detained by Israel during this war. You have balloons and... The children are preparing for their sister. The family of 17-year-old Asil Shahada is hopeful for her release. She was detained just three weeks ago for skipping school and waving a Hamas flag at a protest. Her family is keeping the balloons inside, though. This community is planning some homecomings, but it's also still traumatized by the Gaza war and frightened. That was NPR's Lauren Freyer in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. And before that, you heard Brian Mann in Tel Aviv

speaking with my colleague, Juana Summers. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Ari Shapiro.