Relatives of Israeli hostages terrified as Israel-Hamas truce is in jeopardy

As the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas seems increasingly at risk of falling apart — Hamas says it will not free three hostages as planned, and Israel says it’s ready to resume the war if it doesn’t — families of the hostages are struggling to maintain hope.

After 16 months of excruciating uncertainty, Idit Ohel finally received word this week that her 24-year-old son, a hostage in Gaza, is still alive.

She said she fainted upon hearing the brutal details of his captivity from freed hostages who had been held with him by Hamas since October 7, 2023. Bound by chains in an underground tunnel, Alon Ohel has subsisted on a piece of bread or less each day.

“He hasn’t seen sunlight in 493 days,” she told presspersons on Monday.

As the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas seems increasingly at risk of falling apart — Hamas says it will not free three hostages on Saturday as planned, and Israel says it’s ready to resume the war if it doesn’t — families of the hostages are struggling to maintain hope. They are pleading with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to give up on the ceasefire framework, and to speed up the timeline of releases if possible.

Their worries about the ceasefire collapsing have been exacerbated by President Donald Trump’s demand that all of the hostages be freed by Saturday — and his insistence that Gaza be emptied of all Palestinians and redeveloped as a tourist enclave controlled by the United States.

The emaciated state of three hostages released last Saturday has infuriated Israelis and terrified families of the remaining hostages, especially as more details come out about the conditions of their captivity.

The situation is especially difficult for relatives of hostages who are not on the list of 33 hostages expected to be released in the ceasefire’s first, six-week phase, which began on January 19. The agreement requires Israel to free 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, whose families are also worried about how their enemy treats them.