DES MOINES, Iowa – After 738 days in Hamas captivity, the remaining hostages have been reunited with their families. President Donald Trump on Monday was in Israel and Egypt to usher in a peace deal between Israel and Hamas, signaling the first step of many to officially end the war in Gaza.

Yoni Diller was a survivor of the Nova music festival massacre on October 7, 2023. Since then, Diller has had a mission of sharing his story and experiences on that day to strengthen Jewish resilience and combat antisemitism.

Diller says he was at the festival with friends celebrating when he saw the missiles coming from Gaza, and heard gunfire ring out.

Amongst the hostages released from Hamas, were multiple people who were either working or attending the festival.

Diller spoke about the steps that come next in the healing process.

“Step number one is getting back all of the hostages, including the 28 soldiers that still need to be back,” Diller said. “Once that phase is done, we have to basically rebuild everything. Whether it’s rebuilding our self-secureness, building our mental state. You know, Israel has been going through this national post-trauma, I would say, national PTSD, and we’re a strong nation, but it’s not easy for anyone. We have to rebuild and heal one another, and this is where it kicks in right now.”

Diller also discussed the future peace in the Middle East, saying that before that can happen, there must first be normalization.

“We cannot have peace with a radicalistic; we have to have peace with people who want to have peace. And when you have peace with a person, you have to hug two flags together, not just one flag and burn the other,” he said.