SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Just one day after Israel and Hamas hit the two-year mark of their war, both sides have now reportedly signed off on the first phase of a new peace plan. This key milestone, though, has elicited two very different reactions from the local Jewish and Palestinian communities.
"I'm excited," said Maya Gerassi, Vice President of SDSU's Students Supporting Israel club. "Our hostages are coming home. That has been a main goal throughout the war. That has been a main goal of us pro-Israel advocates."
Gerassi, like many others, was wearing a yellow ribbon pin on her sweater Wednesday.
"Some people have been wearing them every day," she said. "It means bring them home now."
The deal, announced Wednesday by President Donald Trump on Truth Social, includes a swap of the 20-or-so surviving Israeli hostages for about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, demands for an increase of humanitarian aid to Gaza, and calls for Israeli troops to withdraw to an "agreed-upon line."
Samar Ismail, the Community Organizer for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), did not seem as satisfied about the deal.
"To see that we've taken little to no action to fully end it, rather, on the other hand, we continue to send billions of our tax dollars there is disheartening," Ismail said. "I want to see the necessary steps in line with international law to ensure that this genocide ends."
This is not the first time Israel and Hamas have taken steps to find peace during this two-year war.
In November 2023, the first ceasefire fell apart after a week. A second one, started on January 19, 2025, ended two months later.
"This one feels different because it's supposed to be the end to end this war," Gerassi said.
Ismail told ABC 10News, "When we look at hope, we need to look at accountability too because peace needs to come with accountability."
Wednesday's announcement marks a significant start to Trump's 20-point plan to put an end to this war.
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