(WHTM) – After Israel approved a hostage deal with Hamas, abc27 reached out to locals to talk about the deal.

“Is heartbreaking to have to decide who’s going to leave and who’s going to stay,” said Israel native with Harrisburg ties Anat Beck.

Temple Ohev Sholom Rabbi Marc Klein in Harrisburg says, “From a Jewish perspective, we’ll give up whatever it takes to save lives, and that’s ours. And everyone else’s.”

Anat Beck was born and raised in Israel, her entire family still lives there.

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“My nieces and nephews in the last month they were home. There was no school. They had to run in and out of bomb shelters,” said Beck.

Recently, they have been able to attend school, just not every day or for a full day.

“The reason is there aren’t enough shelter bomb shelters to host all the kids at the school,” said Beck.

With Thanksgiving on Thursday, Hanukkah beginning Dec. 7 and Christmas around the corner, which Beck says they do celebrate in Israel, this year is going to feel different.

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“It’s not the same. So, I’m actually hosting Thanksgiving this week and I’m excited about that and we’ll be praying for the families. But it’s not the same, I don’t think, in Israel, Hanukkah is not going to be the same…usually there are shows, there are things for kids. I don’t think that’s going to happen this year,” said Beck.

As some hostages will be released, Beck is asking people to reach out and put pressure on organizations including the Red Cross to go and visit the hostages.

“I’m just going to be honest with you. I wake up every night in the middle of the night. I open my phone. And I want to know, do we have any news on the hostages? What’s going on? What about those children? Those children that are in captivity? Are they alive? Are they dead?” said Beck.

We did reach out to several local Palestinians for an interview, but no one was available. Israel’s Prime Minister says, after the pause in hostilities, the war will continue.

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