A deal between Israel and Hamas to end the war and release hostages still held in Gaza has given families exhausted from waiting more than a year a glimmer of hope that they can finally see their loved ones again.
But hope is only part of the story. Many family members of the hostages Hamas took from Israel on October 7, 2023, do not know the status of their relatives or even whether they are still alive. Even those who have indications that their relatives have survived to this day don't know whether the agreement will last long enough to set them free.
"This is indeed probably the most stressful day we have experienced in more than a year," Udi Goren said at a press conference on the 10th. His cousin Tal Haimi was killed while defending Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak from Hamas, who transported his body to Gaza. Thursday.
The 98 hostages still held - not all alive - will be released in three stages under an agreement brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt, the final details of which were still being hammered out on Thursday.
The deal comes after months of failed attempts to reach a deal, during which the fate of the captives has become one of the most emotional issues in Israeli society. It has drawn tens of thousands of people to the streets in support of the hostages, whose relatives have been relentlessly calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to strike a deal for their freedom.
Netanyahu's cabinet will meet on Friday to discuss the deal, which would see 33 hostages, including children, women, sick and elderly people, released in the first six weeks in exchange for the release of hundreds from Israeli prisons. Palestinian prisoners. The second phase will release the remaining male hostages alive, and the third phase will return the bodies of the remaining hostages.
The structure means even families whose relatives will be released in the first phase could face an agonizing wait of up to six weeks.
But for families whose relatives won’t be released until the final stages, the uncertainty is greater because both phases are predicated on Israel and Hamas agreeing to permanently end the war, while the far-right side of Netanyahu’s coalition Members also agreed to end the war permanently. Strongly opposed.
"Nothing gives me more hope than that these people, my new extended family, can get their loved ones back, have their lives return to normal, and stop this day-to-day pain," Goren said of the other hostage families. See it.”
"On the other hand, for those of us who were not included in the first part, this is not the end of the road. It is just the beginning of a new phase in our struggle."
Joshua Hantman, who helped set up a forum representing the hostage families, said the families and "the entire country" were bracing for "another period of torture."
"Even for those families on the list (Phase 1), this is not a period of unbridled joy," he said. “This is a time of concern but also hope.”
"It's incredible uncertainty after 469 days of suffering... There are reports of people being kept in tunnels, people being kept in cages. No one knows what state they are in now. ”
Hamas seized 250 hostages in the October 7 attack, more than 100 of whom were released during a brief truce in late 2023. Israeli forces rescued a handful of hostages. Israeli officials estimate that more than a third of the remaining hostages are no longer alive.
For many relatives, especially those of hostages who died in captivity, the lingering feeling adds to the pain - the broad outlines of a deal first proposed by US President Joe Biden last May. Strike earlier.
Gil Dickmann's cousin Carmel Gat was killed last year after being held by Hamas for 11 months. Dickman said the family wants to know why it took so long to reach an agreement. "In my opinion, the only thing that has changed from May to now is that more hostages died, including Kamel, and Trump is now president," he said.
But he said the most important thing now was full implementation. "We ask all parties involved to do everything they can so that we reach a comprehensive agreement with all the hostages because this agreement can only be reached after all the hostages go home," he said. "This is a good start. This is the end. The beginning. But it’s not the end until all the hostages go home.”