‘We want them all home’: families call for release of every last hostage
Families of Israeli hostages in Gaza have been let down before, but the new ceasefire deal is bringing fresh hope that their living nightmare may soon be over.
Each week, Sydney man Zack Shachar attends a small public vigil for the Hamas hostages where names are read aloud and photographs are displayed.
It’s a simple event with a singular message: these people are loved, and they are not forgotten.
He did it last Sunday at Bondi Junction and he’ll do it this Sunday at Circular Quay. But this time things will be a little different because, for the first time in a long while, he’ll have the smallest bead of hope in his heart.
This morning, news broke of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, marking a potential turning point in the months-long crisis. The first phase, set to last six weeks, would see the staggered release of Israeli hostages being held in unimaginable conditions since October 7, 2023.
Many families have been here before, only to be cruelly let down. “This time, unlike the previous times, I do have a little bit more optimism,’’ Mr Shachar said. “But until it happens, until it’s done, we just have to wait. We’re on hold.’’
He’s in constant contact with family in Israel for any information about his cousin Naama Levy, 20, whose abduction from Nahal Oz military base close to the Gaza border gained worldwide attention when distressing footage showed her with her arms tied, her ankles cut and the crotch of her trousers soaked in blood, being dragged by her hair into a vehicle by a gunman.
“She was hurt and bleeding, she looked so different it was hard to tell it was her,’’ her older brother Amit told media.
Since then, her family has heard that she’s alive but with no updates since early last year, they, like many others, have no certainty on her status.
Under the conditions of the truce, Israeli government officials have confirmed that the first phase of a six-week ceasefire would focus on the return of 33 hostages, mainly women, children, the elderly and the sick, in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
An Israeli spokesman said it was believed that “most” of the 33 Israeli hostages were alive.
Negotiations for a second phase release of male soldiers, young males and the bodies of dead hostages, thought to number more than 34, would commence on the 16th day after the first phase’s implementation, an Israeli official said. Under the proposed third stage, it is believed the bodies of the remaining dead would be released in return for a three to five-year reconstruction plan of Gaza under international supervision. It is believed more than 90 hostages, dead and alive, are still being held in Gaza.
A family member of the youngest hostage, Kfir Bibas, whose second birthday falls this weekend, said the family was hoping for the best but prepared for the worst.
Kfir, his older brother Ariel and parents Yarden and Shiri were all taken hostage and little has been heard of the fates of Shiri and the two children while signs of life have been recorded for Yarden.
Yarden’s uncle, Yair Keshet, told CNN the family was in a maelstrom of uncertainty and he was “terrified to hell” at the “yes, no, yes, no” rollercoaster of news coming out of the ceasefire talks.
“We don’t know if it’s going to happen. We don’t know what we are going to get, who’s going to come back, how they’re going to come back – their physical condition, their mental condition.”
Mr Shachar said hostage families wanted their own loved ones back but would not rest until all the captives had been released. That’s why the weekly name-reading vigils around Sydney will continue.
“We will not stop until all of them are back,’’ he said.
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