It was an emotional day, long-awaited by many around the world, as the 20 living Israeli hostages held by Hamas were reunited with their families Monday.

Hilary Levine and the American Jewish Committee Philadelphia have worked with the hostages' loved ones since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, connecting them with lawmakers and diplomats, and pushing for their release.

"There's this moment of exhale, and a moment of joy," said Levine, the associate director at AJC. "The laughter, seeing the smiles, seeing the embraces, seeing the tears, there's nothing that can really compare to it."

On the other side of this long-running conflict, thousands lined the streets of Ramallah in the West Bank as Israel released more than 1,700 Palestinians being held without charges. Ahmet Tekelioglu, executiv

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