Families are waiting for Israel and Hamas to release hostages

The Israeli-Hamas Interaction in the Be’eri Border Kibbutz: Family Anarchy During the Oct. 7 Attack

Although the names of the Israelis that Hamas intends to free have not been made public, news of the deal sparked hope among families on both sides of conflict who have waited anxiously for the release of their loved ones.

“If we’ve been on a roller coaster, now we’re going up,” said Gili Roman, whose sister Yarden Roman was taken hostage from Be’eri, a Gaza border kibbutz, during the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7. “The fear is that the higher we go, the farther we’ll fall. There’s a lot of anxiety.”

The Israeli government and Hamas agreed to a brief cease-fire in Gaza in order to allow for the release of hostages.

The cousin of the woman who was kidnapped said her hope had been offset by her anxiety.

Ms. Zailer said she was trying to be careful not to be happy too quickly. “It could collapse tomorrow, for any reason. We might see the days pass with the hostages coming back and the hostages not being with them.

Sheffa Phillips-Bahat, 15, a resident of the kibbutz, had two cousins who were kidnapped by Hamas — brothers Or, 16, and Yagil Yaakov, 12. The father was also being held hostage.

Yarden, her husband, is likely to stay behind even if Ms. Bibas and Kfir come home as part of the emerging hostage deal.

Yagil appeared in a video released on Nov. 9 by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an armed group based in Gaza that invaded Israeli towns on Oct. 7 alongside Hamas. In the video, he asked Israel to bring him home. Hostages are often in these videos under duress and their statements are likely to have been coerced.

Romi Gonen and the Israeli government in the aftermath of a Supernova-Israeli cease-fire: “I’m excited, but I can’t tell you when I’m going home,” she told NPR

Ms. Phillips-Bahat and her family have not heard whether her cousins would be among those coming home in a hostage exchange, but they remain optimistic.

The temporary cease-fire comes after Hamas-led militants killed roughly 1,200 people in the Oct. 7 attacks and seized about 240 hostages, according to Israeli officials.

“So we’re very welcoming [for this deal and] everyone who comes out of this terror and this horror. It’s really hard, because at the same time, maybe my sister won’t be among the 50 people. So I’m trying hard not to get my hopes up.”

When Hamas fighters attacked the Supernova concert, Romi Gonen was able to call her mother. In a recording of part of their conversation, shared by the family with NPR, gunfire can be heard and so can shouts, which the family believes are the voices of Hamas fighters.

With so much uncertainty, Gonen and her family now have to wait a bit longer for a phone call from the Israeli government to confirm if Romi is coming home.

Yarden Gonen with her mother and siblings have been to Tel Aviv to support the families of hostages each day. Other Israelis are following along.

According to Gonen, the sense of community has been vital to her family’s spirits and mental health. But even with that help, she said these weeks of waiting without solid information about her sister have been exhausting and terrifying.

We have ups and downs. We have so much support,” she says. Right now, I have a new family. All of the hostage families are feeling the same pain and uncertainty and I’m in the same boat.

The Israeli government should immediately release additional hostages, according to a coalition of families whose relatives were taken hostage.

“We welcome every hostage who returns home, yet our demand remains unchanged, the immediate release of all 236 hostages,” the group said. “Securing the safe release of every hostage is a national priority. There is no victory until every last hostage returns home.”

Hamas and the Israeli government reached a deal early Wednesday that will allow the release of 50 Israeli hostages.

Hamas and Yarden Gonen: The First American Hostage-Free Israelis in the War for Israel’s Security and Security

While Yarden Gonen worries about her sister, she is also frightened for her partner, who’s been called up to serve in Israel’s army as part of a mobilization of 300,000 reservists to support the war.

“The fear all the time is that you don’t know what they are going to do, or what they are planning to do,” Gonen says.

The first Israeli hostages to be freed by Hamas will be the moment when the deal goes into effect. A militant leader suggested it could happen as early as Thursday morning.

“I just keep on praying and sending really good energies,” Gonen told NPR Wednesday, after details of the deal were made public. “I’ll be excited for anyone that will be [released] because they are my family too.”

In Washington, Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed the agreement for the release of hostages, “including American citizens.” There are 10 dual U.S.-Israeli citizens unaccounted for, a senior Biden administration official said, three of whom could be released as part of the deal, including a 3-year-old whose parents were killed on Oct. 7.

The names of Palestinian prisoners slated for release were published by Israel early Wednesday, which allowed the public to object to Israel’s Supreme Court. The group representing victims ofPalestinian attacks petitioned the court to block the deal, reported Israel’s Channel 13 The court, however, is not expected to intervene.

On the list are 33 women and the remainder are teenage boys aged 14-18. In the last few years, some people have been charged with offenses such as stone- throwing and have been arrested. There are many suspects awaiting trial on a variety of charges. Some are being held in “administrative detention,” a detention without charge or trial.

“Holding people as hostages is itself illegal, a war crime, and Hamas should release all the hostages unconditionally. But it is appropriate that Israel release prisoners and detainees to advance this goal,” said Jessica Montell, executive director of the Israeli human rights group HaMoked, which provides legal aid to Palestinians.

The Israeli army promised to give him advance notice if Sharon and Noam are released from Gaza, according to the comedy writer’s wife.

Yousef Afghani is a Palestinian who lives in Jerusalem, and he was surprised to see his daughter on the list of prisoners Israel would release. She has served seven years of her 15-year sentence, convicted for an attempted 2016 stabbing in which no one was wounded. Her father said she was carrying a knife but didn’t try to stab him.

“My feelings are the feelings of any father. Afghani talked to NPR about joy and celebration. But he also condemned the kidnapping of Israelis to Gaza, which resulted in the deal to free his daughter. “We are against any kind of attack against civilians.”

Meanwhile, in Rome, Pope Francis met separately with Israeli relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, and families of Palestinians held in Israel. The conflict had ended beyond war, Francis said in a speech after the event. This isn’t war, it’s terrorism.

Foreigners from other countries are also believed to be held by Hamas. Among them are more than 20 Thai farm laborers seized near the Gaza border in the Oct. 7 attack. Fox understands that the Thais are not part of the exchange deal.

Israel has made it clear that the fighting isn’t over. In a statement, the Israeli government said it “will continue the war in order to return home all of the hostages, complete the elimination of Hamas and ensure that there will be no new threat to the State of Israel from Gaza.”

Israel’s Channel 12 news says the deal allows “significant” humanitarian aid into Gaza, including desperately needed fuel to run generators — the only source of electricity throughout much of the besieged territory. Since Israel launched airstrikes and a subsequent ground invasion of Gaza after last month’s Hamas attack, the territory’s 2.2 million people have experienced dire shortages of food, water and medical supplies. Aid and fuel will be allowed into Gaza, according to Hamas.

The Hamas-Binjadi-Gaza Agreement — a breakthrough achieved by the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt

Biden thanked Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani and Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi for help in brokering the deal.

Hamas, in its own statement, welcomed the agreement that it said was reached after “difficult and complex negotiations for many days.” But the militant group that has controlled Gaza since 2007 also cautioned “our hands will remain on the trigger, and our winning battalions will remain in control to defend our people and defeat occupation and aggression.”