TEL AVIV, Sept 30, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - As US President Donald Trump announced his Gaza peace plan with the backing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, Israelis expressed cautious hope that the nearly two-year conflict could finally be drawing to a close.

In the coastal hub of Tel Aviv, protesters grasped US and Israeli flags, alongside placards bearing the faces of the remaining hostages held by militants in the Palestinian territory.

"I am more optimistic although I am still a little afraid of being so optimistic," said Hannah Cohen, the aunt of slain hostage Inbar Hayman.

"I am afraid of being disappointed again, really afraid because we suffered so much with agreements that finally blew up in our faces."

The war in Gaza has been raging since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, with several rounds of indirect negotiations so far failing to produce a lasting ceasefire.

Gal Goren, whose parents were both killed during the Hamas-led attack, also expressed guarded hope.

"We are trying to be optimistic today," he said.

"We were very happy to hear what Trump said. We were happy to hear that Trump saw us, that he heard us calling for ending this war and bringing all the hostages... home," he added.

Hamas's unprecedented attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally from official Israeli figures.

Of the 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during that assault, 47 remain in Gaza, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 66,055 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory that the UN considers reliable.

Trump's 20-point peace plan calls for a ceasefire, release of hostages, disarmament of Hamas and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

But Hamas said it had not yet received the plan, and Netanyahu warned he was still ready to "finish the job" against the Palestinian Islamist movement.

Tel Aviv resident Tzipi Haitovsky said she had faith in Trump's plan, which she described as "very, very good news."

Trump "is totally committed to bringing peace and prosperity to this region, and this can only start with the ending of the war in Gaza and bringing back all our people," she told AFP.

Aviv, a 28-year-old lawyer from Tel Aviv said he hoped to see all the hostages return home, the demilitarisation of Hamas and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

"I believe that if Hamas won't accept this deal, that this deal needs to be done without (it)," he said, adding that he wanted to see an internationally governed area in the Palestinian territory with no future for the militant group.