Hostages’ families ‘filled with trepidation’ ahead of ceasefire deal
The deal is expected to come into force at 6.30am GMT.
Families of British-linked hostages have said they are “filled with trepidation” ahead of the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel coming into effect.
The agreement, expected to come into force at 6.30am GMT (8.30am local time), will mean a ceasefire in Gaza that would release dozens of hostages and pause the 15-month war with Hamas.
It was approved by Israel’s Cabinet early on Saturday morning after weeks of negotiations in Qatar.
Adam Ma’anit, who lives in Brighton, said his cousin Tsachi Idan is on the list of hostages set to be released in the opening phase of the truce, and spoke of his cautious hope for his safe return.
The 51-year-old told the PA news agency: “I think I’m feeling every spectrum of human emotion all at once, in the sense that I am incredibly anxious, filled with trepidation, but also optimism.
“But I can’t allow myself to be overly invested in that optimism because we’ve been here before where a deal seemed imminent and things were looking up and our hopes and dreams and desires were about to be coming true, and our loved ones returned to us, and then we would have them crashed down into the reality of collapsed negotiations and the grim prospect of months more uncertainty.
“So I think it’s important to be sanguine about the deal and realise that it could potentially happen, but not to be overly invested in it so much that we hurt ourselves mentally.”
Mr Idan, who will be 51 in April, witnessed his eldest daughter’s murder before he was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 2023.
The family have hope that he is still alive, although Mr Ma’anit told PA Hamas said he was dead in a video published last January.
“There’s no intelligence to say that he’s dead, let’s put it that way, other than Hamas claiming he is without showing us any evidence of it,” Mr Ma’anit said.
“And so since January 2024 we’ve been operating under the assumption, perhaps naively, perhaps stubbornly, perhaps overly optimistically, but doggedly so that he’s still alive. We still hope that’s the case.”
Loved ones of other British-linked hostages have been waiting to learn if their relatives will be released.
British-Israeli Emily Damari, 28, was kidnapped during the October 7 attack and has been a hostage for 470 days.
Arsenal and Tottenham football fans united in support of Ms Damari at the North London derby on Wednesday, and her mother Mandy tweeted her appreciation afterwards saying: “I know that you don’t agree on very much, which makes it even more special that you have come together to say ‘bring her home’.”
On Thursday, Noa Argamani, who was held captive for more than 200 days before being rescued, gave an emotional address about her boyfriend Avinatan Or at the Nova Music Festival exhibition in Miami.
Mr Or, whose mother is a British-Israeli citizen, remains a hostage.
According to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters, Ms Argamani said: “I know that Avinatan is still there, and my heart breaks to think that he will continue to be there until the second stage of this deal.
“This is why it is absolutely critical that we put an end to this horrible tragedy and bring all the hostages home.
“My journey is far from over. My partner Avinatan is still there. His clothes that are in my closet are still waiting for him to wear them. We were just beginning to build our lives together.
“I wait for Avinatan. I wait for the day I can feel whole again, but until he comes home, I am not truly free.
“There are still 98 hostages, just like him, 98 families in this endless nightmare. Until Avinatan returns, my heart is in captivity.”
Under the deal, 33 hostages are set to be released over the next six weeks, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Hamas has agreed to free three female hostages on day one of the deal, four on day seven and the remaining 26 over the following five weeks.
Palestinian detainees are to be released as well.
Israel’s justice ministry published a list of more than 700 prisoners who are to be freed in the deal’s first phase and said the release will not begin before 4pm local time on Sunday.
