With the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement, American families are living in a mix of hope and anxiety, waiting for news of their loved ones' release from captivity in Gaza.

Under the agreement announced by Washington and Doha, Israel will release Palestinian detainees, while Hamas will release Israeli and foreign hostages held in the Gaza Strip, including Americans.

Hamas' attack resulted in the deaths of 1,200 soldiers and civilians and the capture of more than 250 foreign and Israeli hostages. Currently, around 96 hostages remain in Gaza, with the Israeli army announcing that 34 of them have been killed or have died.

Since the war began in 2023, only one week's truce was reached in November of that year, during which 105 hostages were released along with 240 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.

The new agreement includes the release of 33 hostages in the first phase, including women, children, men over the age of 55, and the ill.

According to Reuters, two American hostages in Gaza, Keith Siegel and Saguy Dekel-Chen, are on the list of those to be released in the first phase.

At least seven American citizens are still being held hostage by Hamas, with at least three of them believed to have perished.