Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease fire deal Jan. 15, which could end the conflict that began Oct. 7, 2023.
Yug Mehta, a seventh-grader on the Dream team, said, “There is a cease fire? Yippie!”
On Jan. 15, an initial agreement was announced that a ceasefire would take place between Israel and Palestine. The deal included stopping attacks and releasing hostages.
On Jan. 17, Israel’s government was considering a vote to implement the cease fire.
The agreement came a week after president-elect Donald J. Trump’s Tweet on Jan. 7 threatening Hamas.
On Jan. 7, Trump made a tweet regarding the Oct. 7, 2024, hostages in a statement which includes the following:
‘’Please let this be the truth to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20th, 2025, the date which I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those who perpetrated these atrocities against humanity.’’
It’s not known if the tweet had a direct influence on the decision
Dola Rapuru, an eighth-grader on the Voyagers team, said, “I think it’s very important to have a ceasefire.”
The announcement followed Israel’s Dec. 15, 2024, air raid on a Palestinian refugee camp located in Gaza that resulted in the deaths of at least 53 Palestinian refugees as well as medical personnel and journalists.
This is one of the many attacks Israel has conducted on Palestine since October 7, 2023, the date in which the conflict officially began.
“I don’t think the nations should be pursuing war,’’ said Sam Zarechnak, age 13, on the Dolphins team. “They should find peace.”
Another major event in the conflict, is the Tel Aviv terrorist attack conducted by Hamas as a suicide attack on Israel on Aug. 18, 2024. The attack was conducted by an unknown perpetrator, possibly Palestinian, seeming to be presented as a middle aged man wearing a full backpack. The attack ended with the death of three people, due to the attacker not arriving in the nearby synagogue or shopping centers, which could have led to even more deaths.
‘’It sucks,’’ says Sam Doremus, age 12, on the Trailblazers team. “No one should have to go through this war.’’
As of Jan. 13, 2025 at least 160 Palestinian journalists have been killed in strikes conducted by Israel. Whether or not these attacks on the journalists conducted by Israel were accidental or intentional, is still unclear as of right now. At the moment, 75% of all journalists dispatched to the warzone have been either killed in action or have been taken hostage by the opposing sides, marking this as the most dangerous active war for journalists to be dispatched to.
Sam D. thinks that the U.S. should dispatch troops to Israel to help end the conflict sooner, then rather let it continue any longer.
“I think the U.S. should try to help and find a way to dissolve the conflict and not add to it,” Sam Z. said.
