The day after the release on Saturday of four Israelis detained in Palestine, there are still 116 hostages in the hands of Hamas and the families are hoping for a ceasefire so that they can be freed.
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After 245 days of captivity, they are free. The four ex-hostages released the day before by the Israeli army were able to reunite with their families on Sunday June 9. They were kidnapped during the Nova electronic music festival, which was held on October 7. The news of the release of Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv brought a sigh of relief across Israel, but the joy is only temporary in Jerusalem.
The release of the four Israeli hostages has given new hope to families who are still waiting to reunite with their loved ones. A necessary hope, but which remains limited: once the national joy has passed, Michaël Levy says he has mixed feelings. His brother, Or, was also kidnapped on October 7 during the Nova festival and is still in Gaza: “Frankly, for me it doesn’t change anything, except that they managed to save four hostages. There are still about 120 in Gaza and we have to get them all out.”
But this Israeli considers that “the army will not be able to recover them all by carrying out military operations” and that there is then a “need to get an agreement and do it quickly so that the others can get out”.
For Michaël Levy, there is no time to lose because most of the hostages previously released were released during negotiations. Since October 7, only seven hostages have been released in military operations.
The dominant feeling among hostage families remains doubt, the endless wait for a ceasefire. Precisely, 116 hostages are still being held in Gaza and 41 have already died, according to the Israeli army.
