Americans for Peace Now welcomes the ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hamas and thanks the third parties who helped broker it. APN urges both sides to adhere to the ceasefire and – in the coming days and weeks – to do their utmost to stabilize the situation.

APN's President and CEO Hadar Susskind said: "As Palestinians and Israelis mourn their dead, heal their wounds, and start to rebuild, we will redouble our efforts to make clear that repeated rounds of violence and counter-violence are not a solution. When the smoke clears, we are left with the same problems that we had before so many lives were lost. The occupation must end. Hamas must renounce violence. Israel needs a functioning government. The Palestinians need to have elections. Hundreds of people were killed and many more were injured or made homeless, and yet none of these facts have changed.

"And we in the United States will tell our leaders that turning away from the Israel-Palestine conflict will not make it go away. The US is the only party that can effectively push both Israelis and Palestinians to settle their conflict. The time to pave the way toward peace is now. It's always now."