Toledo community reacts to hostage release between Hamas and Israel

TOLEDO, Ohio —

Hamas has released all 20 living Israeli hostages, and Israel is releasing nearly 2,000 Palestinians detainees after two years of conflict. 

A conflict that Americans, like David Clark of Lambertville, have been paying close attention to.  

“I feel very good,” Clark said. “I’m confident now that the world, Mother Earth can reconnect.” 

President Donald Trump and other world leaders have signed a peace declaration after United States involvement, including the release of a 20-point peace plan for Gaza. It’s something political science professors, like Joel Voss at the University of Toledo, said is good news for the president. 

“I think once the dust settles, we’ll see like how involved the United States was compared to like Qatar and Egypt and others but, it looks like U.S. diplomacy was sort of front and center,” Voss said. 

Some people like Clark, said they may not fully agree with the president, but they applaud his administration for working with international leaders. 

“That’s a difficult chore to do, because we all have our little needs and wants and everything else, but maybe taking the greater umbrella of what we really need to make things work will direct us in that direction,” Clark said. “That’s peace, peace among us.” 

Clark said he is happy to know that people are getting back to their families after two years. 

“Can you imagine what it would do to you and me and everybody else? That’d be a terrible loss,” Clark said. “They get to reconnect, and that is so vital. Maybe this is a lesson for Mother Earth and the people on Mother Earth that we see peace starting to prevail.” 

Voss said the release of people back to their families is certainly a victory, but there is still work ahead. 

“The big questions now are, how do you rebuild Gaza? Who controls Gaza? Does Hamas disarm? If they disarm, can they trust the Israeli government not to do the same thing again?” Voss said. 

Voss said he thinks the United States will continue being involved in the process, but he questions where the country will put its priorities in the rebuilding and stabilization of the area. He said having international peacekeepers, including the United Nations, in Gaza is a good way to help rebuild the area.