"All kids have the right to live in a safe place, in a good place, and seek treatment," Shatha Abusalim, who worked for months to evacuate her ill daughter from the war in Gaza, told me. "The kids are not the ones who make the conflict." Read their story:

"I don't have an illusion that films are going to change the world, but I know they can change individuals, and I know that they can be part of a bigger change, and we really need this now," one Oscar-nominated filmmaker told me. Read more:

"Even in the darkest times, he knew how to somehow lift himself," the released Israeli hostage's niece said. "The hope of reuniting with the family and worrying about us was the greatest power, was the only nutrition that he had for his soul." Read more:

“It’s a very, very difficult experience,” she said in November. “I was very sad about that, as my right to education was being exhausted due to the siege and war. My psyche was very shattered, and to this day I still do not sleep at night thinking about my future and my dream”.

He worries deal's 1st stage only releases 33 hostages. 2nd stage negotiations, which would free remaining living hostages, will start on 16th day - “too late". As family of a hostage dead "because a deal didn’t come in time, we need to make sure...no more hostages are killed”.

Carmel Gat was taken hostage on 7 October 2023, before she was shot and killed by Hamas, Israel said in September. Her cousin, Gil Dickmann, told me the ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal in the Gaza war is “bittersweet".

"I felt that my future, my dreams were being blocked," the 19-year-old in Khan Younis told me. Now though, the prospect of a ceasefire brings her ambition to become a doctor closer. Read more reactions to the ceasefire deal in Gaza:

She described the negotiations as a "rollercoaster...We hardly breathe." She had no idea when her uncle would be released, but said "I believe Gadi will be fine. It will take time but he will be hugged so warmly and slowly. Together we shall overcome."

Police held him and others in the bar until the attack was over. "When we were finally allowed to leave, we were walking past dead and injured bodies all over the street," he told me three hours later. "Everyone was just completely in shock."