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BBC OS Conversations: Hostages, prisoners and peace

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Hostages, prisoners and peace

24/11/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - BBC OS Conversations, Hostages, prisoners and peace

Israelis and Palestinians discuss the prospect of peace and the return of loved ones

Israelis and Palestinians discuss the prospect of peace and the return of loved ones.

After seven weeks of war between Hamas and Israel, there was a deal for a pause in the fighting. On Friday morning the rockets and gunfire fell silent in Gaza. 
 
The agreement also included the release of Palestinians in Israeli prisons and Israeli hostages held in Gaza; plus more aid deliveries to the people of Gaza.

After so much trauma and anger, host James Reynolds hears from those who say there has to be another way than war. 

He talks with two members of Parents for Peace - an organisation consisting of both Israeli and Palestinian parents who have lost children throughout decades of conflict.
 
A Palestinian sniper killed Robi Damelin’s 22-year-old son, David, in 2002. An Israeli soldier killed Bassam Aram’s 10-year-old daughter, Abir, with a rubber bullet, outside her school in 2007. 
 
Today, Robi and Bassam are united in using their grief positively for peace and to help others who continue to suffer the consequences of war.
 
“Instead of building more graves, they need to try to move on with this pain, to use it as a motivation,” says Bassam. “To build more bridges for peace for the memory of their beloved one.”
 
We also hear how two Israelis are coping under the strain of not seeing their relatives; knowing they are probably being held hostage in Gaza, but are unlikely to be released as part of the current deal.

(Photo: Robi Damelin (l) and Bassam Aram)

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