From the Liveblog of
Thursday, October 9, 2025
Arab party lawmakers praise deal to end war in Gaza
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Lawmakers from the Arab-majority Hadash-Ta’al party celebrate the hostage-ceasefire deal announced overnight as the end to an alleged “genocide” in Gaza and argue that there is “no military solution” to the conflict.
“I’m happy that both sides have reached an agreement on the first stage of the deal to end the war. I’m deeply happy for the mothers who will hug their sons tight, and for the children who will finally hug their parents again,” tweets party chairman Ayman Odeh, without specifying if he is referring to hostages or Palestinian prisoners.
Odeh came under fire during the last hostage release deal earlier this year, when he said he was “happy for the release of the hostages and prisoners.”
“No war has proven more than this one that there is no military solution. From here, both peoples must be freed from the yoke of occupation. Because all of us, every single one of us, were born free,” he writes.
I’m happy that both sides have reached an agreement on the first stage of the deal to end the war.
I’m deeply happy for the mothers who will hug their sons tight, and for the children who will finally hug their parents again.
No war has proven more than this one that there is…
— איימן עודה أيمن عودة Ayman Odeh (@AyOdeh) October 9, 2025
In a statement, the party’s Hadash faction welcomes the agreement to end the “criminal… war of extermination against the Palestinian people in Gaza, and to release the hostages and prisoners.”
“The cessation of the war was made possible thanks to the heroic and steadfast stand of the Palestinian people in Gaza, which thwarted the expulsion and extermination plan initiated by the Israeli government,” the party states, praising “conscientious objectors” in the IDF.
Hadash-Ta’al MK Ahmad Tibi declares that the war in Gaza “must be the last one” and that both Israelis and Palestinians must be freed “from the burden of occupation and blockade.” In addition, “we must prevent the extremists in this government, in their frustration over the outcome of the deal, from igniting the West Bank to satisfy their messianic delusions,” he says.
MK Aida Touma-Sliman insists that the end of the war is coming to an end “despite, and not because of, the bloodthirsty government,” which her party will work to bring down alongside efforts to bring about “the liberation of the Palestinian people, and for a future of peace and equality for both peoples.”
Ofer Cassif, the party’s only Jewish lawmaker, says that the “great excitement and joy over the signing of the first stage of the agreement to end the genocide and release the hostages” is “mixed with terrible pain and rage over the loss of tens of thousands of innocent people.”
Cassif pledges that “we will not cease the struggle to end the occupation and defeat fascism in Israel.”
The Times of Israel Community.