Hostages at Hostage Plaza on Wednesday included Jimmy Miller, her cousin Shiri Bibas and her husband Yarden Bibas, as well as their 5-year-old son Ariel and 1-year-old Kfir were taken hostage at Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel.

"This Saturday the cub will be two years old," Miller, 48, told NBC News in Tel Aviv. "This kid has never celebrated his birthday with his family, his parents. It's a terrible thing to think about."

Kofer is likely to be one of the 33 hostages released by Hamas in the first phase of the deal, which would take effect on Sunday if Netanyahu and his government approve it.

Israel said on Thursday its cabinet would not meet to ratify the deal, claiming Hamas was creating a "last-minute crisis" and reneging on a truce agreed on Wednesday, but Netanyahu's office did not elaborate on what Hamas had done What.

Hamas said it was "committed to abiding by the ceasefire agreement."

Although the hostage families' hopes were dashed, they remained cautiously optimistic about seeing their loved ones again.

Rita Lifshitz's 84-year-old father-in-law, Oded Lifshitz, may also be among those released - children and the elderly are likely to make up a large proportion of those initially released.

"This incident has a lot of emotional resonance," Rita Lifshitz, 59, said in a WhatsApp voice message late Thursday. "A lot can happen before the last hostages are released," she added.

Human rights and peace activist Oded was taken from Kibbutz Niz Or with his 85-year-old wife Yocheved Lifshitz, who was He was released in October 2023 after 17 days in Hamas captivity.

"We don't know if we will come back alive or in a box," Rita Lifshitz said, adding that she hoped Israel would agree to the deal and that the relatives of the freed captives would share in the happiness .

For some families, however, the deal is too little, too late.

Gil Dickmann, whose cousin Carmel Gat was killed in Gaza, said Thursday he had mixed feelings about the deal and that he "felt a lot of grief for what Carmel could have done" It's sad that she's not here."

Gat, a 40-year-old occupational therapist from Tel Aviv, was abducted from her parents' home in Kibbutz Beeri. In August, the Israeli military recovered her body from Gaza.

Dickman also questioned why a deal similar to the one currently being discussed wasn't approved in May.

Gat "should have been part of (that) deal. They didn't sign it in time so she wasn't murdered because she was in captivity," he said.

"But on the other hand," he added. "I'm with the hostage's family and we're celebrating - we're celebrating because the news is so good."

Gabe Joselow and Chantal Da Silva reported from Tel Aviv, and Henry Austin reported from London.