Ximena Solorzano, Head Photography Editor

Two weeks into a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, several Yale students said that while they hope that the agreement will bring lasting peace to the Middle East, they are skeptical of its longevity.

Earlier this month, Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement that included the exchange of hostages. Two weeks into the truce, which wavered on Sunday when Israel and Hamas exchanged accusations of ceasefire violations, students interviewed by the News expressed an array of reactions, ranging from joy to doubt.

Zoe Kanter ’27, an organizer for Yale Jews for Collective Liberation in Palestine, said that she felt a sense of relief after learning about the ceasefire deal. 

“It’s a sort of cautious sense of relief,” Kanter said. “Bombs have not stopped falling, but they have slowed.” 

President Donald Trump first announced on Oct. 8 that Israel and Hamas reached an agreement to exchange all hostages, the first phase in his Gaza Peace Plan, Politico reported. A few days later, Israel freed almost 2,000 prisoners and detainees while Hamas released the last 20 living hostages in Gaza, according to NPR. 

On Sunday, however, Israel and Hamas exchanged fire after Israel accused Palestinian militants of firing at Israeli troops and thus violating the ceasefire agreement. Hamas denied involvement in any attacks. In retaliation, Israel launched airstrikes, which killed 45 people in Gaza, The Guardian reported.

Yale’s Slifka Center for Jewish Life hosted a live video showing of the Israeli hostages being released the morning of Oct. 13.

Eytan Israel ’26, a Jewish student who has organized several vigils for the Israeli hostages since 2023, wrote in a text message to the News that “at Slifka, students wept together in the middle of the night as the last captives were released.” He described the night as being “pure joy,” filled with prayers of gratitude and dancing.

“The day we were waiting for, protesting for, praying for for two years finally arrived,” he wrote.

Han Pimentel-Hayes ’27, a student previously involved with advocating for weapons divestment and Palestinian liberation on Yale’s campus, said in a Zoom interview that she felt “cynical” and “not optimistic” about Israel’s commitment to the ceasefire.

“I immediately did not think this one was any different,” she said.

Earlier this year, on Jan. 15, Israel and Hamas announced a ceasefire agreement, which ended on March 18, when Israel broke the agreement and launched an air strike against Gaza after Hamas refused to release hostages, according to NPR.

Maryam Abbas ’29 said in a phone interview that she is “angry that there are a lot of people around the world who are celebrating the ceasefire.”

“I still see many of the same issues that we had before being repeated,” she said, referring to continuing Israeli air strikes in Gaza. “The ceasefire feels very meaningless.”

She said she feels the deal ignores the “century-long history” of Israel’s “erasure of Palestinian descent and culture.”

Rohan Lokanadham ’27, a student who spoke at a Yalies4Palestine vigil two weeks ago, said that his joy was short-lived — he received a video from a friend in Gaza counting the noises of 50 bombs falling nearby.

“While I had hoped for daily lives to change, I feel less hopeful now,” Lokanadham said.

Kanter stressed that even before the war, Gaza was “already considered unlivable” and Israel was “considered by many an apartheid state.” Now after the ceasefire, she said, “Palestinians are still being denied their basic human rights.”

“This ceasefire can’t be anything but temporary, unless Israel moves towards allowing Palestinians their human right of self determination, allowing them genuine political representation,” she said.

Israel wrote to the News that there is a lot of work that needs to be done to achieve lasting peace and “a future without terrorism.” He cited a need to “disarm Hamas so that Gaza can start to be rebuilt without fear that the funds will be used to restart another wave of violence.”

“We need to give Palestinians civilians the peace they deserve, and Israelis the security they deserve,” he said.

Yossi Moff ’27, a Jewish student, said in an interview that he has written the number of days the hostages have been in captivity on a piece of tape and wore the tape on his clothing. He said that even though actions to raise awareness of the Israeli hostages could feel “small,” they were still “significant.”

“It’s not like wearing a little piece of tape is going to help get the hostages home,” he said. “But you can’t look at every action like that.”

Kanter said that Jews for Collective Liberation in Palestine anticipated that the group would continue to organize after a potential ceasefire agreement. In April, the group changed its name from Jews for Ceasefire.

Pimentel-Hayes said she thinks that students have been paying less attention to Gaza this academic year. She emphasized that she hopes “rhetoric of ceasefire” does not encourage students to “demobilize” even further.

On Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance LAW ’13 visited Israel and expressed optimism about the ceasefire deal.