In God of mercy and miracles,
we lift our hearts in gratitude and awe.
For our Israeli siblings, sons and daughters once missing,
now home.
For the smiles breaking through exhaustion and trauma,
for the trembling embraces of families
who refused to forget,
who carried their loved ones’ names across the world
like sacred candles through the dark —
we give thanks.
And for the Palestinian hostages,
long held and now free —
for the songs rising in the streets,
for parents who waited at the gates,
for the joy that bursts from the crowds welcoming the buses —
we give thanks.
Let this moment of release
be more than a pause between wounds.
Let it be a beginning —
a ceasefire that holds,
aid that flows unhindered,
healing that multiplies across ruins,
and hope that grows again in Gaza’s soil.
Teach us, Holy One,
how to live as neighbors instead of enemies,
as kin instead of captors.
Guide the hands of leaders and governments
toward courage and cooperation,
that all your children – Israeli and Palestinian alike – may dwell in safety and in peace.
Amen.
