This was the moment Israelis had been yearning for. On Sunday afternoon, 471 days after being captured by Hamas in the darkest hour in Israel’s history, three young hostages began the harrowing journey from imprisonment in Gaza to freedom in their homeland. country of origin.
The release of the three women – Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher – marked the start of a multi-phase deal that offers a chance to end the brutal war in Gaza and the hope of freeing dozens of hostages additional charges after more than 15 months of detention. torment for them, their families and the nation.
But Israeli joy and relief at the release are mixed with anxiety about what the coming weeks will reveal. Israeli officials estimate that at least half of the remaining 94 hostages are dead. And many doubt the fragile truce will last long enough for everyone to return.
“There’s this dichotomy between this mindset that this could be the last day (of their husband’s or their child’s life) – and the possibility that that same person is sleeping in the next room during the week next time,” explains Udi Goren. , whose family is awaiting the return of the body of his cousin Tal Haimi, killed on October 7 then taken to Gaza.
“I don’t think words can describe the immense disparity between these two emotions.”
Over the past 15 months, the fate of the hostages has remained etched in the Israeli national consciousness. Their faces from happier times have been plastered and re-plastered on buildings and billboards from Haifa to Eilat. Details of their lives fill the daily news bulletins. Rallies demanding that the government act to secure their release have become a weekly occurrence.
But as time approached for the truce this weekend, along with hopes that at least some would finally be freed, there were reminders of how volatile the situation remained. Missiles from Yemen triggered the sinister wail of air raid sirens across the country. In Tel Aviv, a Palestinian stabbed an Israeli before being shot dead by a passerby.
Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes continued to spray Gaza into Sunday morning, bringing the death toll in the destroyed enclave to more than 140 since the deal was announced last week, according to Palestinian officials. .
“There is a glimmer of hope, but it is not the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Daria Giladi, as she and a friend joined a rally in support of the hostages in the city center from Jerusalem on Saturday evening.
“You are happy that people are going home, you are happy that the war is over, even for a short time. But there is still a long way to go. Only a third of the hostages are expected to return (during the first six weeks of the deal). So it’s not enough.
Even for the relatives of the 33 hostages who are to be released in the first phase of the deal – when children, women, the sick and the elderly are freed – the uncertainty is acute.
Sharone Lifschitz’s parents, Yocheved and Oded, lifelong advocates of coexistence with Palestinians, were both arrested on October 7. Yocheved was released 17 days later. But the family has no idea of Oded’s fate. When Yocheved returned, she told his family that he was dead. But hostages released a few weeks later during a truce in November 2023 said they had seen him alive.
So for the past 15 months, the family waited, hoping against hope for Oded’s safe return, while grappling with the enormity of what that would mean for a frail octogenarian shot in the wrist during Hamas’ onslaught for surviving so long in Hamas captivity. .
“We are all fighting for him with the belief that until we know otherwise, we want him back. If his destiny and his strength held, and he found a way to survive against all odds, we really can’t wait to see it,” Lifschitz says, his voice catchy.
“(But) he saw the destruction of everything he fought for. And then it had to be in the hands of those who had caused (this destruction). And he had to survive somehow while his health is not good and he is injured. It’s very difficult to wish this on anyone, let alone a father you love so much.
For families whose loved ones are not expected to be released until the second and third phases of the deal – when the still-living male hostages, and then the bodies of those who died, are returned – the uncertainty is greater.
When the previous seven-day truce and hostage-for-prisoner exchange took place in November 2023, freeing 110 of the 250 hostages initially captured, many in Israel hoped that this would lead to further such agreements and that the hostages remaining could be brought back. soon too.
But what followed was 14 months of false dawns, as Israel and Hamas failed to reach an agreement and the number of living hostages gradually dwindled. Claims by far-right ministers in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government that they repeatedly thwarted a deal have outraged relatives of the hostages. And that left those who had loved ones not expected to be released until the second or third stage, fearing their time would never come.
Among them is Herut Nimrodi, whose son Tamir, then 18, was arrested in his pajamas, barefoot and without glasses, at his military base near the Erez crossing in the early hours of the Hamas attack.
Nimrodi knows the exact time – 6:49 a.m. – of their last message, when Tamir contacted her and told her rockets were landing on the base. The family found out he had been arrested when one of his daughters saw a video on Instagram. But for months, they have had no indication of his condition. In November, they celebrated his 20th birthday without knowing “if he had even made it to 19.”“.
“I know my son’s name is not on the (initial release) list, because he is a soldier, and we are terrified,” Nimrodi said. “What I fear is not just that we won’t get to the next stage. But also that (once the first group is released), the lobby (for other releases) will become much smaller, because there will be fewer hostages and they will only be men.”
It is also widely recognized that, even for those who return, this return will only be a first step. Lifschitz says his mother is handling his return from prison “better than most of us.”
But for those who have spent more than 15 months in captivity, the process is likely to be much more difficult. Previously released hostages have reported being held in cages or in complete darkness, being drugged and beaten, and in some cases suffering or witnessing sexual abuse.
Hagai Levine, a doctor working for a support forum for hostage families, said at a press briefing last week that he expected “all aspects of (the hostages’) physical and mental health be affected.” “Time is running out: recovery will be a long and excruciating process,” he said.
But despite all the anxiety over the challenges ahead, families are desperate for the process to begin. “Everyone in Israel – and of course families – needs closure. We are currently a wounded society. We are in trauma. We haven’t even started the post-trauma yet,” says Nimrodi. “We have to heal. And seeing the hostages return is a healing process for us as a community.
Lifschitz agrees. “We know that many of the hostages are not alive and that we will have many funerals and shivas (mourning periods) to attend,” she said. “But at least there will be some sort of closure.” We will know. At least we’ll know.