An agreement concluded between Israel and Hamas provides for the release of 6 Israeli hostages in exchange for authorization for displaced people from Gaza to return to the north of the enclave.
As part of the agreement reached this Sunday between Israel and Hamas, three Israeli hostages should be released this Thursday and three others this Saturday.
On the list of three hostages who should be released this Thursday, the names of Agam Berger, a 20-year-old soldier, and Arbel Yehud, a 29-year-old civilian. The latter was initially supposed to be released at the same time as the four soldiers released by Hamas last Saturday, but her detention by Islamic Jihad would have delayed her release.
In response, the Israeli authorities accused the Palestinian Islamist movement of violating the truce agreement and had temporarily suspended allowing displaced Palestinians to return to the northern Gaza Strip.
Mixed feelings for families of remaining hostages
The four Israeli soldiers, Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag, all in their twenties, were released last Saturday by Hamas after more than 15 months of captivity.
Relatives of these ex-hostages expressed their joy and gratitude on Sunday, while recalling that their struggle would only end when all the remaining hostages had returned home.
“Naama is now safe here with us, surrounded by family and friends and protected. But the fight is not over”declared the father of the ex-hostage Naama Levy. “There are 90 hostages left that we must bring home. These are our sons and daughters, the foundations on which our state is founded”he added.
Hospital officials described the condition of all four women as stable.
Orly Gilboa, Daniella’s mother, said her daughter “came back thin and pale”but that she was “as wonderful and talented as the day she was kidnapped from us”.
Itzik Horn, who has two sons held hostage in Gaza, says he feels happy for the four freed hostages “from hell”but he also fears for the future.
Iair Horn, 46, is expected to be released during the first phase of the ceasefire, but his brother Eitan, 38, is not.
“On the one hand, I have a son on the list (to be released in the first phase) but another who is not”he said, adding that he hopes Israel will not resume fighting after the first part of the agreement.
He called on new US President Donald Trump to continue putting pressure on negotiators and the Israeli government.
“We need to get everyone out of there.”said Itzik.
Uncertainty over the second phase of the ceasefire
The ceasefire concluded at the beginning of the month after more than a year of negotiations aims to end the 15-month war triggered by the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, as well as to free the hostages still held in Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians. prisoners.
The first phase of the ceasefire runs until early March and includes the release of a total of 33 hostages and nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
The second phase, much more difficult, has not yet been negotiated.
Hamas said it would not release the remaining hostages without an end to the war, while Israel threatened to resume its offensive until Hamas was destroyed.
The Israeli government also stated that it would not agree to a complete withdrawal from Gaza until Hamas’s military and political capabilities were eliminated.
Dani Miran, the father of hostage Omri Miran, who is not one of the 33 hostages to be released, also says he has pinned his hopes on President Trump.
“I am hopeful, and most of us families pin our hopes on President Trump. In President Trump because our government – they don’t do anything anymore, they don’t know how to make decisions, they need to be forced”he added.
Phase 2 talks are scheduled to begin on February 3, day 16 of the ceasefire concluded on January 19. The two sides will have to agree on a plan to govern Gaza. Hamas has said it would be willing to withdraw, but it could still seek to partner with any future government, something Israel has rejected.
About 90 hostages remain held, and Israeli authorities estimate that at least a third, if not half, of them were killed in the initial attack or died in captivity.