Across Israeli society, the reaction to the news of a Gaza ceasefire deal has been almost uniform: Joy.In Tel Aviv, the families of those taken captive during the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023 celebrated on Thursday after the announcement. And a man dressed as United States President Donald Trump – who played a large part in brokering the deal – carried Israeli and US flags and posed for photographs with smiling passersby.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listTwo years of war on Gaza have fractured Israeli society. The minority who have openly opposed Israel’s killing of more than 67,000 Palestinians say they have been ostracised, while those who cheered on what experts have confirmed is a genocide have been left angered by growing international condemnation of Israel’s aggression.“I cried when I got the news,” Israeli political analyst Nimrod Flaschenberg said from Berlin. “It’s really big. It’s like there’s a complete emotional unravelling across Israel; it’s like people are decompressing. There’s just massive, massive relief.” A person wearing a mask depicting US President Donald Trump holds US and Israeli flags after the ceasefire and captives deal declared by Trump, at the so-called Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, on October 9, 2025 [Maya Levin/AFP]Cautiously optimisticFor some, the news seems too good to be true, with speculation and nerves turning to how the ceasefire may ultimately unravel, as a deal earlier this year did.“Everyone is happy. It’s what we’ve been calling for for two years,” said Aida Touma-Suleiman, a member of parliament from the left-wing Hadash-Ta’al party. “I’ve been watching video …
