For Jonathan Dekel-Chna, every day this week was a blend of joy and sadness. She celebrates the return of his son Sagui, who was released over the weekend as part of the fire interruption agreement with Hamas. But the reminders of Sagui’s torture and the torment of the remaining hostages are impossible to escape.
“Today is a day with very mixed emotions,” Mr. Dekel-Chen said in an interview on Thursday.
He just visited his son at a hospital in Tel Aviv area on the day Hamas handed the coffins that were said to contain the remains of four neighbors Mr. Dekel-Chna in Kibbutz Nir Oz, where about a quarter of 400 inhabitants were killed or took hopes of 7 .
It has been 504 days since the Hamas attack attack, and about 60 hostages just returned home. “Now we have to double when we get all hostage home,” Mr. Dekel-Chen said. The four bodies that returned on Thursday said that they include three members of the Bibas – Ariel Bibas, 4 and Kfir Bibas family, who was only 10 months old, and their mother Shiri Bibas. Bibaza symbolized the state of prisoners after the videos taken to Gaza became viral.
But early on Friday, the Israeli army announced that the remains in what was said that Mrs. Bibas did not fit the identity of any of the hostages. “This is a violation of the greatest seriousness,” the army said.
The authorities confirmed the children’s remains, and those from Odee Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was killed by a militant group of Palestinian Islamic jihad in captivity, according to Prime Minister Benjamina Netanyahu.
Mr. Lifshitz, a retired journalist, was captured along with his wife Yocheved Lifshitzwho was released for a few weeks because of what Hamas called “humanitarian and health reasons. “
Described abuse and torture conditions in Hamas underground tunnels, warning that another Hostages couldn’t stand them.
Before the war, Mr. Lifshitz voluntarily drove Gazana seeking medical treatment at the hospitals in Israel and was the founder of the Peace Branch now, a group advocating for the decision of the two states of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mr. Dekel-Chen, who has been friends with Mr. Lifshitz for decades, said that “the man is truly dedicated to his values.”
Thousands of Israelites paid tribute to Mr. Lifshitz and other hostages during a set on Thursday night in what became known as the hostage square in Tel Aviv. They were also there to put pressure on the Israeli government to ensure the release of those still holding.
The rank of rally demanded that the government of Netanyahu would not allow the fire to fall apart. The first phase of the agreement between Israel and Hamas came into force in January and was supposed to end in less than two weeks. Negotiations on the second phase were delayed, leaving the fate of dozens of prisoners in the air.
The fragile truce has led to the plates from Gaza in exchange for Palestine in Israeli prisons – but there are concerns among the hostages that there may be no other circle of edition.
Yael Adar, whose son Tamir Adar was killed in an attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz and whose body was not returned from Gaza, spoke to a gathering on Thursday. She said that when Tamir’s son heard that his bodies would return to Israel this week, he asked if his father was home.
“We told him no, not at this stage. Asaf couldn’t understand why there were stages,” she said.
Mr. Netanyahu’s office said he said six living hostages would be announced on Saturday, instead of three as planned, and that four more bodies would return next week.
But relatives are anxious.
Hamas’s failure to return Mrs. Bibas asks new questions about whether the next edition of the hostages and prisoners will continue on Saturday and the fate of the interview in the second phase of the fire interruption agreement.
If the second phase negotiations fail, about 60 hostages, which some are believed to be dead, would most likely remain in Gaza. And if the fight continues, those who are alive will be in even more feverish danger.
On Monday, there was a rally on the Talac Square, which marked the 500th Caps Day for those held in Gaza.
Among the speakers was Yela David, sister of Evyatar David, who was taken over from the Nova Music Festival during the attack on October 7th. “Phase 2 is the last opportunity to save the lives of dozens,” she said. “If this job breaks down and Phase 2 does not start, the black stain on the pages of our history will remain.”
Liberation hostages say there is no time to save.
Keith Siegel’s wife drove that point home during a set on Monday on the hostage Square. Mr. Siegel was held in Gaza for almost 500 days, of which six months were spent locked in a small room. He was beaten, threatened to weapons and was reduced by his abductors to “nothing”, the words of his wife Avive.
He ate only mold bread, lost 65 pounds and thought for a few days he would not survive, Mrs. Siegel said, describing the details about her husband’s experience for the first time.
“He went through 484 days of hell, no human being should ever be experienced,” said Mrs. Siegel, who was also taken as a hostage. It was released during a short trial in November 2023. “I was in Gaza. I survived. Keith survived. Others won’t,” Mrs. Siegel warned.
It was a topic that was repeated by other former prisoners, including IAir Horn, 46, who was released on Saturday with two other soils in exchange for 369 Palestinian prisoners.
He appeared in a video at a rally on Monday, shot about 48 hours after returning to Israel, to declare himself for his brother Eitan Horn, who was still in Gaza and should not have been released in the first phase of the Agreement.
“I was there. I was in Hamas’s tunnels. I experienced it firsthand,” Iir Horn said. “And I tell you, hostages don’t have time. They have to come back now. “
Since his return, he said, people have kept asking what he needed. “I reply to them,” I only need one thing: I return my brother. I return my brother and all the hostages. “
