NEW YORK — American families of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza have been in contact with negotiators as a draft deal for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages has been agreed to in principle, CBS News has learned.

CBS News New York’s Lisa Rozner spoke with some of those families, as well as local Palestinians with family in Gaza.

Families of hostages hope for imminent reunions

A Hamas propaganda video released after Thanksgiving of now 21-year-old Edan Alexander from Tenalfy, New Jersey was the first time the Alexander family saw him in more than a year. Now, his father hopes his freedom and a reunion in person are imminent.

“Just a great kid. He belongs to be back with family in New Jersey, and we hope that we’ll cross this finish line soon,” father Adi Alexander said. “We pushing for the very simple ask, no American being left behind.”

He says Edan Alexander is not one of the 33 hostages who would be released in the first phase.

Neither is 47-year-old father of two Omri Miran, brother-in-law of Manhattan resident Moshe Lavi. His family met with Israel’s prime minister Tuesday.

“It’s still unclear whether we’ll ever reach the second phase of the agreement,” Lavi said. “Every hostage is a humanitarian case.”

Brooklyn native Jonathan Dekel-Chen says his son, Sagui, who is a hostage, has not met his third daughter, who was born in December 2023.

“I think the urgency that President-elect Trump has put on this, including a date, January 20th, gives me more hope,” he said.

Dekel-Chen says their last proof of life is more than a year old.

“The fact that anyone was alive 13, 14 months ago, unfortunately, is a guarantee of nothing right now,” he said.

People living in Gaza are “in survival mode,” loved ones say

Videos from Gaza this past fall show the conditions Najla Khass says her family has been living in. The Staten Island resident says her parents and siblings and their families have lost loved ones while struggling to survive in tents.

“They’re in survival mode, so they’re taking it hour by hour,” Khass said. “It does bring hope. It brings hope for them to move on with their lives. It brings on a lot of anxiety … It’s about, are we allowed to go back to our home?”

In Paterson, New Jersey, which is home to one of the largest Palestinian communities outside the Middle East, talk of a ceasefire in Gaza is welcome news.

“A lot of them are still under the rubble, and they need the help,” said Raed Odeh, who owns Palestine Hair Salon and Barber Shop in the city’s Little Palestine neighborhood.

Customer Hamza Al Haynas fled Gaza for the United States about six months ago. He says more than 100 relatives and loved ones have been killed in the war.

“And see, I lost my country, lost my business, lost my family,” he said.

There is hope this ceasefire might bring real, lasting peace.

“It’s been a long time of a struggle. And we hope and we wish that this struggle will end within the next seconds, not the next hours or days,” Odeh said.

Families of both Palestinians and Israelis point out they are cautious in their optimism, as they’ve seen in an instant how quickly the situation can become volatile.