For Jonathan Dekel-Chen, this week has been a mix of joy and sadness every day. He is celebrating the return of his son Sagui, who was released over the weekend as part of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. However, reminiscent of Sagui's ordeal and the suffering of the remaining hostages is impossible to escape.
“Today is a day with very complicated emotions,” Dekel Chen said in an interview Thursday.
He just visited his son at a Tel Aviv area hospital on the day Hamas turned the co, which allegedly contained the bodies of four neighbors of Kibbutz Neil Oz's four Dekel Chen. It was. He was killed or taken hostage on October 7, 2023.
It has been 504 days since the Hamas-led attack, and about 60 hostages have yet to come home. “We now need to double down by bringing all the hostages home,” Dekel Chen said. The four bodies returned Thursday are said to include three members, Ariel Bibas, who was only 10 months old, and four Kfir Bibas and mother Shiri Bibas. Vivaze's video of her being transported to Gaza has been circulated through word of mouth.
But early on Friday, Israeli forces announced that the ruins of what is said to be Vivas' co-site did not match the hostage identity. “This is a violation of the greatest severity,” the military said.
Authorities say the remains of a child who was 83 years old when he was captured and killed by the extremist group Palestinian-Islamic Jihad, and the remains of Audoded Lifeschitz, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office. I've checked.
Lifshitz, a retired journalist, was captured along with his wife, Yokebed Lifshitz.
She explains the abuse and tragic circumstances in Hamas underground tunnels, warning that other hostages cannot survive them.
Before the war, Lifshitz volunteered to drive Gazas to Israeli hospitals for treatment and was a founding member of the Peace Branch, a group advocating for two state solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Dekel-Chen, who had been friends with Lifshitz for decades, said he was “a man who is really committed to his values.”
Thousands of Israelis paid tribute to Lifshitz and the other hostages at a rally on Thursday night, which became known as the Hostage Square in Tel Aviv. They were also there to pressure the Israeli government to secure the release of those still held.
The rally speaker demanded that the Netanyahu government not collapse the ceasefire. The first phase of the Israeli- Hamas agreement comes into effect in January and is expected to end within two weeks. Negotiations for the second phase are delayed, leaving the fate of dozens of prisoners in the air.
The fragile ceasefire led to the release of hostages from Gaza in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, but concerns among hostage relatives that there may not be another round of release. there is.
Yael Adar, whose son Tamil Adar was killed in an attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz and whose body has not been returned from Gaza, spoke at the rally on Thursday. She said when Tamil's son heard that his body would be returned to Israel this week, his father asked if he would return home.
“We told him no, but it wasn't at this stage. The ASAF didn't understand why there was a stage,” she said.
Netanyahu's office said six live hostages will be released on Saturday, not as planned, instead of three, and four more bodies will be returned next week.
But relatives are worried.
Hamas' failure to return Mr. Vivas raises new questions about the fate of talks in the second phase of the ceasefire deal, whether the next release of hostages and prisoners will progress on Saturday.
If negotiations in the second phase fail, some are believed to have around 60 hostages dead, and they will likely remain in Gaza. And if the battle resumes, the living will be in even greater danger.
A rally was held at Hostage Square on Monday to commemorate the 500th day prisoners of war on Gaza.
Among the speakers was Ela David, sister of Eviyatar David, who was filmed from the Nova Music Festival in the attack on October 7th. “Phase 2 is the last chance to save dozens of lives,” she said. “If this transaction falls apart and Phase 2 does not begin, our history pages will remain black stains.”
The released hostage says they can't afford it.
Keith Siegel's wife drove through the spot at a Monday rally at Hostage Square. Mr. Siegel took place in Gaza nearly 500 days, and six months were spent alone locking himself in a small room. He was beaten, threatened with a muzzle, and reduced to “nothing” by his prisoner, in the words of his wife, Aviva.
He ate only moldy pita bread, lost 65 pounds, and thought he would not survive for a few days, Siegel first explained the details of her husband's experience.
“He went through 484 days of hell,” said Siegel, who was held hostage. She was released during a short truce in November 2023. “I was in Gaza. I survived. Keith survived. No one else would,” Siegel warned.
This was a recurring theme by other former prisoners, including 46-year-old Iair Horn, who was released on Saturday along with two other hostages in exchange for 369 Palestinian prisoners.
He appeared in a video message at a rally on Monday, recorded about 48 hours after returning to Israel, pleading his brother Eitan Horn.
“I was there. I was in the tunnel in Hamas. I experienced it firsthand,” Iair Horn said. “And I'm telling you, hostages don't have time. They have to come back now.”
Since his return, he said, people have kept asking what he needs. “I answer them, I only need one thing: bring my brother back. I bring my brother back and all the hostages.”
