by Ave (Joe:) Ohio
SDEROT, Israel (Reuters) – Hundreds of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv's Hostage Square, some cheering and others shedding tears, as a giant television screen broadcast the first glimpse of the first three hostages to be released under the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
They saw the three women – Romy Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damary – exit a car in Gaza City and be handed over to Red Cross officials amid a growing crowd that Hamas gunmen were able to repel.
The Israeli army released a video showing their families gathered in what appeared to be a military facility, crying emotionally as they watched footage of the handover to Israeli forces in Gaza before they were returned to Israel.
The Forum of Hostages and Families of Missing Persons, a group representing some of the hostages' families, said: “Their return today represents a beacon of light in the darkness, and a moment of hope and triumph for the human spirit.”
The three women, the first of 33 hostages scheduled to be released from Gaza under the first phase of the deal, are being released in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli prisons.
The hostages were taken in one of the most traumatic events in Israel's history, when Hamas militants attacked a series of communities around the Gaza Strip in the early hours of October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 civilians and soldiers and kidnapping 251 hostages – men. Women, children and the elderly.
But amid hope among many Israelis that a six-week ceasefire will mark the beginning of the end of the war, there is deep concern about the uncertainty surrounding the remaining 94 hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip.
“The ceasefire is something I hope will work,” said Tomer Mizrahi from Sderot, a town in southern Israel within sight of Gaza that was attacked on October 7. “But since I know Hamas, you can’t even trust them.” “Even for once.” percent.”
Pictures of Hamas police taking to the streets as the ceasefire took effect showed how far Israel has moved from its originally declared war aims of destroying the Islamist group that has ruled Gaza since 2007.
“I'm torn,” said Dafna Sharabi from Beit Aryeh Ofrim, a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank. She added, “On the one hand, there is a ceasefire to reinforce the forces and to rest from all this madness, and on the other hand, perhaps this is not the right time.”
“They should have been eliminated, eliminated,” she said. “My son was on reserve duty for a year there, for a whole year, and he sees all the people of Gaza coming back, and Hamas returning its forces to all the places where he fought.”
Military-age men are not into the deal
After 15 months of war, Gaza is largely in ruins. The Israeli campaign led to the killing of nearly 47,000 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and the displacement of most of the two million people living in the Strip.
But for many in Israel, the war will not end as long as Hamas remains, and there have been a series of rallies opposing the ceasefire as a surrender that would abandon captured military-age men who are not among the first batch of 33. Hostages.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has already resigned, and his hardline colleague Bezalel Smotrich also opposed the deal and said he was reassured that it was not the end of the war.
The Israel Democracy Institute said its latest Israeli Voice Index, conducted just before the deal was agreed upon, found that 57.5% of Israelis support a comprehensive agreement requiring the return of all hostages in exchange for an end to the war. Another 12% supported the partial release of hostages in exchange for a temporary ceasefire.
Amid the mix of emotions, for some, the feeling of exhaustion outweighs any fears about the future.
“We have been waiting for this for a long time,” said Shlomi Elkayam, who owns a business in Sderot. “We wanted it to be an absolute victory, and I hope we will achieve this absolute victory, if not now, then later.” “There are pros and cons, but in the end we're tired of everything. We're tired and we want everyone here at home.”
