CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Hope is in the air as Israel and Hamas inch toward a deal that would free some of the roughly 130 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for a weeks-long pause in the war.
It's been 144 days since the war broke in the Middle East, and many are still being held captive.
Tair Giudice is one of many from the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte who visited Israel last month. During the visit, she met with survivors who were held hostage, spoke with families of those still missing and witnessed with her own eyes the destruction.
"We're desperate. We we want the Israeli hostages to return safely to their homes and also for Hamas to disarm and dismantle, and for that to be an end to the fighting," Giudice said.
She said there are stakes with faces planted in the ground to symbolize the many people that were kidnapped by Hamas. The location of the stakes are placed where the individual was last seen according to video footage.
Giudice isn't the only one mourning from the warfare. Palestinian-American Rania Masri has heard horror stories too.
“I've heard from friends whose family members are in Gaza who literally say that two weeks ago their family members ran out of animal food to eat. They've not only ran out of food, they've run out of animal food to eat. And now their family members are literally starving," Masri said.
Giudice says it’s a similar story for Israelis who have no place to call home after the bombings.
"The survivors cannot go back home, so right now, Israel has over close to 200,000 people who are displaced. Israel has made it very clear that the fighting will stop if Hamas releases all the hostages and puts down their arms," Giudice said.
“If you care about the Israeli hostages, call for a cease fire, if you care about decency and you don't want children to starve ... call for a cease fire. If you care about democracy, the fact that the vast majority of Americans want a cease fire, then call your congressional official and let them know in the name of democracy, let alone decency," Masri said.
As negotiations continue, Giudice hopes the end is near.
“We met with the survivors of the Nova Festival ... and what we heard from them was that they said, 'We will dance again.' So similarly, the red flowers, the red anemones flowers symbolizes just like nature will continue to bloom and the seasons will continue to transition. The south of Israel will bloom again. There will be life again,” Guidice said.
President Joe Biden hopes an agreement will be in place by next week, however, according to a Hamas leader, there has been no breakthrough on mediated talks with Israel.