TAMPA, Fla (WFLA) — There were protests in Tampa and across the country. Thousands of people spoke up about the war in Gaza.

The 15 months of killings, bombings, war could finally be coming to an end.

“After eight months of non-stop negotiation, my administration, by my administration, a ceasefire and a hostage deal has been reached by Israel and Hamas,” President Joe Biden said during his final address to the nation Wednesday.

Omar Saleh with CAIR, a Muslim Civil Rights group, said the deal has been received with a cautious sense of optimism.

“We don’t believe it until we actually see it,” Saleh said. “President Biden miserably failed in doing anything to stop the tens of thousands of innocent lives that were lost.”

News Channel 8 On Your Side asked Saleh what steps he’d like to see President-elect Donald Trump take regarding the deal.

“We would ask that he sets a stage, certain stages, for the pursuit of a just withdrawal of troops, withdrawal of troops from Gaza, but also ending the systematic apartheid government,” Saleh said. “Ending the systematic mistreatment of Palestinians, treating them as less.”

Reports say nearly 100 people are still captive inside Gaza. The three-phase deal would exchange hostages for Palestinian prisoners, and it includes reaching a permanent end to the war.

Saleh said there needs to be a lasting change.

“There is such thing as a peaceful Israel and there is such thing as a free Palestine. And as long as we can say those together, I think we’ll be on that right road,” Saleh said.

Negotiations on implementing the ceasefire are expected to start Thursday.