Pain, uncertainty and hope among the families of the Gaza hostages: “I know many who will not return”

Four and a half months have passed since Hamas announced the death in Gaza of hostages Shirin Bibas, 32, under Israeli bombs; her daughter Ariel, four, and her son Kfir, who turned one in captivity. There is no official Israeli confirmation of these deaths nor have the bodies of the mother and the only two children of the total of 133 kidnapped children who still remain in Gaza after the attack on October 7 been recovered. That same day they also took away, although separately, the father of the family, Yarden, 34 years old. “We have no sign of life from them, except what Hamas said on the last day of the (November ceasefire) agreement, that they had been killed. We still don't know if it's true,” explains Ofri Bibas, 37, Yarden's sister.

In recent hours, very violent images have come to light of the kidnapping and mistreatment of Yarden Bibas on October 7 at the hands of dozens of Palestinians, some armed, others recording videos, while he was being transported on a motorcycle to Gaza. “This distressing video serves as a wake-up call to take quick measures to put an end to this humanitarian crisis and bring back our loved ones safe and sound,” the forum that brings together hostage families asks in a statement. “We must do everything in our power to ensure the immediate release of all hostages, both living and deceased,” the text adds.

Like the rest of the testimonies, the words of Yarden's sister navigate between pain, uncertainty and hope. Ofri is one of those who participated in a meeting of relatives of hostages in the battered Nir Oz kibbutz, two kilometers from the Strip. This was one of the agricultural communities hit hardest by Hamas attackers. Almost a quarter of its 400 residents were killed (51) or kidnapped (36).

The group symbolically celebrates the Jewish Passover festival, which begins on April 22 and commemorates the return of this people from the Egyptian desert. They do it in the kibbutz dining room with the long tables ready, but devoid of diners. The damage from the attack has not yet been repaired and the smell of rot from the kitchen, partly burnt, reaches the large room. The event also serves to demand the return of all those absent, represented in photos on each chair in front of the dishes.

“The hostages must be released not because they are suffering in captivity, but because it is a moral obligation of the State,” Liat Atzili Beinin, a 49-year-old neighbor who was kidnapped and released during the week of November ceasefire. A citizen of dual Israeli and American nationality, she was imprisoned for 54 days in an apartment in the town of Khan Yunis. During the event at the kibbutz, they show a video on a screen with images of past Easters, with the inhabitants of Nir Oz celebrating the holiday in that same room.

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They are aware that some of those who appear will never return. This is the case of Aviv, 49 years old and Liat's husband. His body is one of those that still remains in Gaza, like that of Maya Goren, a 56-year-old employee of the kibbutz daycare center, who was taken away seriously injured by the attackers on a motorcycle. It is already known that a significant part of the 133 will not return alive. The woman, in any case, calls for help to bring them back without conditions "if there is even a shred of human decency left."

An agreement that is moving away

These days the negotiating channels are maintained for a cessation of hostilities that opens the door to an exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, although, based on the messages and signals that transcend the opposing parties and the mediating countries, it does not seem that the agreement will be reached shortly. The main focus of attention on the part of the international community is on trying to stop the escalation between Iran and Israel, whose troops continue their attacks in Gaza with dozens of deaths every day.

The four members of the Bibas family were kidnapped in Nir Oz during the massacre in which Palestinian fundamentalists murdered around 1,200 people in Israeli territory and captured around 250, of which little Kfir was the youngest. With its response, Israel has already killed almost 34,000 Palestinians in the Strip. After announcing the death of his wife and children, Hamas forced Yarden to record a video, which the Palestinian group made public. In the recording, the father blames the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, for having murdered Shiri, Ariel and Kfir.

In images obtained by Israel from a surveillance camera on a street in Khan Yunis and shown on February 19, authorities say they identified the three. But that only confirms that they did not die in the October 7 attack and that they arrived in Gaza alive. Hamas announced his death at the end of the week-long truce, the last one in November, in which 105 of the hostages were released. Since then, there are no other minors kidnapped in the Palestinian enclave.

Ofri, the children's aunt, eight months pregnant these days, says she lives on an emotional roller coaster. Therefore, regarding the negotiations for a new ceasefire and an agreement to release the hostages, she tries not to be too optimistic. “We have already been through many ups and downs and negotiations failed,” she notes.

“There is no price for the life of my family, there is no price for the lives of the hostages” because “this is not an agreement for the sale of a car, although we know what Israel has to do,” he explains, without ceasing to remember that it is Hamas that took them and it is on that group that we must also put pressure. It is about, Ofri adds, “having a broader perspective, not just a military one” of the war in Gaza, although, she understands, it is difficult to find that balance between the military and the diplomatic.

80th birthday, in Gaza

“My father can die from war, from hunger, from low oxygen levels, or he can die from anything else,” warns Noam Peri, 41, referring to Chaim Peri, an artist and advocate of coexistence with Palestinians. of Nir Oz who turned 80 in captivity on Saturday. They have not heard from him since he appeared in a video released by Hamas on December 18, the daughter adds. “I know many who are not going to return,” laments Noam, acknowledging that the information coming from captives in the Strip does not help with optimism. Hence, she does not want to hope too much so as not to be disappointed later.

“I wouldn't celebrate Easter in any way,” says Ofri Bibas, but he understands that he has to do it for his daughter, the same age as his cousin Ariel. The girl, who has another younger brother, is “excited” about her new outfit, her mother adds while she asks for “justice and humanity” to end the “nightmare” they are experiencing.

“As on normal days, these days we are supposed to celebrate together the festival of freedom, agriculture and independence,” but “these are not normal days,” deplores Ornat Peri, Chaim's wife, remembering past Easters. The art gallery in the fields of Nir Oz where Chaim Peri made his metal sculptures remains closed. She awaits him the book of children's stories that he was going to publish for his 80th birthday. “He is ready and we are waiting for him to return,” his daughter Noam longs.

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