Southern Ontarian families relieved for loved ones as Israel-Hamas ceasefire begins
Maureen Leshem’s 24-year-old cousin, who spent 471 days in captivity, is one of three hostages who were released Sunday as part of the first phase of a temporary ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel. About 90 Palestinian prisoners are also set to be released Sunday.
‘Bricks have been lifted off my chest,’ says Palestinian woman whose family remains in Gaza
Ethan Lang · CBC News
·
Sunday marked the end of “15 months of agonizing torment and uncertainty” for Maureen Leshem of Toronto and her family in Israel.
Leshem’s cousin, Romi Gonen, was one of three hostages freed Sunday as part of a ceasefire deal that pauses the war in Gaza that began following the attacks by Hamas-led militants against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
“Today, my heart is filled with immense gratitude and relief,” Leshem said at a news conference in Toronto Sunday.
The six-week ceasefire agreement, which outlines a plan to gradually release a total of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, officially began Sunday after a three-hour delay.Â
WATCHÂ | First phase of Gaza ceasfire begins Sunday after delay:Â
Gaza ceasefire begins after nearly 3-hour delay
A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip took effect on Sunday after a nearly three-hour delay, pausing a 15-month-old war that has brought devastation and seismic political change to the Middle East.
Israeli officials have said they don’t know whether all 33 of those hostages are still alive.
Gonen was abducted by Hamas from the Nova Music Festival 471 days ago. She was shot in the arm on Oct. 7, something she described to her family on the phone before she was abducted. It would be nearly two months before her family confirmed she was alive.
Leshem said her cousin faced “incomprehensible cruelty and trauma” in captivity, and her family will now begin helping her heal.
“We know that the Romi who is returning to us is not the same vibrant, joyful young lady who was stolen from us on Oct. 7,” Leshem said. “We will need to get to know a new version of Romi — and that breaks my heart.”
Palestinian prisoners also being released
About 90 Palestinian prisoners from the West Bank and Jerusalem were also set to be released Sunday.
Reem Sultan of London, Ont., who says she’s lost over a dozen family members in the conflict, said Sunday that the ceasefire is a relief for her and her surviving family in Gaza.
“I feel like bricks have been lifted off my chest,” she said.
As her cousins return home after being displaced by the fighting, Sultan said she’s grappling with images of destruction and rubble flooding her phone.
“I’m thinking, where are they going to live?” she said.
WATCHÂ | Reem Sultan tells what it’s like having family trapped in Gaza:Â
What it’s like to have family trapped in Gaza
The anxiety is non-stop for Canadians with families trapped in Gaza as Israel mounts an offensive against Hamas. CBC’s Ellen Mauro was with Reem Sultan in London, Ont., when she finally got through to her nephew for an update.
Sultan said she wants those responsible for the destruction to be held accountable, and she hopes an agreement will be reached that allows for a free Palestinian state and lasting peace in the region.
For now, she said she wants the Canadian government to push for a permanent ceasefire.
International pressure will be key for the peace to hold in the coming weeks, said Jon Allen, a senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and former Canadian ambassador to Israel. He said he’s “cautiously optimistic” the first phase of the ceasefire will continue as planned.Â
“I’m just hoping that … the pressure in Israel will build to ensure the rest of the hostages come out in the second phase, and that pressure will be on Hamas from the people in Gaza who do not want to see any resumption of war,” he told CBC Toronto on Sunday.
In the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people and took about 250 people hostage. In a statement Sunday, a spokesperson for Israel Defense Forces said 94 hostages remain captive.
More than 46,000 Palestinians have died during the ensuing Hamas-Israel war and over 110,000 have been injured, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
Negotiations for permanent ceasefire still to come
Israel is treating the ceasefire as temporary, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel retains the right to continue fighting if necessary.Â
But many are hopeful the ceasefire may become permanent as Hamas and Israel continue to negotiate.Â
Phase one of the agreement includes the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, as well as the gradual pullback of Israeli troops from populated areas of Gaza, and the increase of humanitarian aid into the war-torn region.
The second and third phases, which still have to be negotiated, would lead to a permanent ceasefire and the rebuilding of Gaza.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ethan Lang is a reporter for CBC Toronto. Ethan has also worked in Whitehorse, where he covered the Yukon Legislative Assembly, and Halifax, where he wrote on housing and forestry for the Halifax Examiner.
With files from Britnei Bilhete and Thomson Reuters
