MINNEAPOLIS — A long-awaited peace deal between Israel and Hamas led to celebrations in Tel Aviv on Thursday, and the optimism reverberated in Minnesota.

"It's just joy and relief that this two years of horror could be coming to an end," said Ari Parritz, a Jewish developer who lives in the Twin Cities.

Parritz was in Israel celebrating a friend's wedding in 2023 when the October 7th terrorist attack ignited the war.

"Everything was lovely and normal and full of love and energy and then we went to sleep that evening and woke up that Saturday morning, just like the rest of Israel, to all of the sirens and rockets and explosions and chaos and confusion," Parritz said.

Two years later, he learned that the Trump Administration had helped broker a deal that Hamas and Israel were beginning t

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