JCRC Statement
October 8, 2025
The following is a statement from Ron Halber, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington.
“Two years and one day since Hamas carried out the deadliest massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust — and amid the ongoing anguish of Hamas holding innocent people hostage in inhumane conditions — we welcome the news of this agreement.
Since October 7, 2023, Jewish people in our region and around the world have worked tirelessly for the return of the hostages. We are deeply grateful to the Trump Administration and negotiators from several Arab and Muslim nations for crafting an agreement that may finally allow that day to soon come to fruition. Now and always, our hearts are with them and their families, and we pray that they may all find healing after such unimaginable trauma.
As the details of this agreement are implemented, nations of the world must maintain unrelenting pressure on Hamas to ensure it abides by its commitments and permanently lays down its arms. Hamas must never again have the ability to commit the atrocities of October 7 or to rule in Gaza. Israelis and Palestinians alike deserve a future free from terror and violence.
While much work remains, we hope that this moment marks the beginning of the end of this horrific war, and lays the necessary groundwork for a lasting peace.”