Follow Smith Avenue through Pikesville to come upon the faces.

Homemade flags in Azi Rosenblum’s front yard show Baltimore the faces of the Israelis held hostage in the Israel-Hamas war. The 15-month-long war has brought anguish to Jewish and Palestinian families across the Baltimore region. And Rosenblum’s haunting, public memorial has forced the area to confront a faraway war that hits close to home.

He was still processing the flood of emotion following reports Wednesday of a six-week ceasefire agreement in Gaza and plan to release about one-third of the hostages over that time, perhaps some of the very people whose names and faces show from his front yard.

“It’s an emotional roller coaster,” he said. “You’re thrilled for the people who are hopefully coming home alive and for the families that will get closure, whether that’s the closure of getting a body back and burying a loved one.

“At the same time, your heart breaks for the other 70 or so families that are still waiting.”

Multiple mediators confirmed that Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire that would pause the war and release dozens of the nearly 100 hostages. A U.S. official said authorities expect the ceasefire to be implemented in the coming days.

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza began Oct. 7, 2023, when militants stormed into southern Israel and killed about 1,200 people and abducted around 250. A third of the 100 hostages held in Gaza are believed to be dead.

Israel responded with a fierce offensive that has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities there. The Health Ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians, but it says women and children make up more than half the deaths. Relief organizations estimate that 90% of Gaza’s population has been displaced.

The conflict has brought strained relations across the Baltimore area but mostly has led to united calls for peace from Palestinian and Jewish families. That was the message of an Oct. 6 rally near The Mall in Columbia when Howard County author Ramsey Hanhan told a crowd how it felt to have returned to his native Palestine when war erupted.

On Wednesday, he was messaging with friends in Gaza about the ceasefire.

“It’s wonderful. I’m thrilled that finally the bloodshed is going to end,” he said.

Hanhan noted the war had brought Jewish and Palestinian families together in the Baltimore area.

“Both communities wanted the same thing,” he said. “We wanted the violence to end and everybody to go home and have peace. I can imagine my Jewish friends are also happy at this.”

There has been hope for peace before, only to see negotiations fall apart. Hanhan had hoped a ceasefire proposal announced last May would end the war, but the bombings went on.

This time, he’s even more hopeful, considering the inauguration Monday of Donald Trump. The incoming president has broadly called for an end to the war and famously warned that there will be “hell to pay” if Hamas does not release the hostages.

Trump and President Joe Biden were both taking credit Wednesday for the ceasefire deal. In remarks at the White House, Biden said his administration negotiated the deal but that Trump’s team will soon be charged with making sure it’s implemented.

Still, a peace deal would lead to much work with the rebuilding of Gaza and the need for help from overseas.

“Gaza is devastated. So it’s going to take years for it to recover,” Hanhan said. “I hope the people who learned about Gaza and supported Palestinians during the past year continue to do so.”

In Pikesville, Rosenblum shares hope that the war has finally ended. He’s not taking up his yard flags, not yet. Each flag represents a hostage, and he’s waiting for confirmation. He’s waiting to see each name and face in the news, one by one.

“Then we will go out and hopefully collect the faces of those people,” he said. “And that we will do with tremendous joy.”

The Associated Press contributed to this article