On Friday afternoon, when I sat down to begin watching the first group of hostages released from Gaza, I suddenly received a screenshot of a conversation between two people I had never met.
In Hebrew, the first person wrote: “Have you heard any news?”
The second person responded: “They are not on the list.”
I was hit with a pang of emotional pain as I understood what this exchange meant.
While the entire country is eagerly awaiting the release of the listed hostages, there are families still being emotionally tormented, waiting to see what the outcome of their loved ones will be.
Helplessly waiting for the release of loved ones
Think about the level of pain it must be to have no control over the release of your loved one and that it is a terror organization – alongside the Israeli, American, Egyptian, and Qatari governments – that dictates whether your loved one is worthy of immediate release. It must be the most helpless feeling in the world.
The current hostage agreement allows for the release of up to 300 Palestinian prisoners and a total of 98 Israeli hostages. However, it does not include provisions for the release of Israeli men and soldiers, including five women serving in the IDF, held by Hamas. The primary focus of the deal has been on the release of civilian women and children.
Even now, the media is reporting complications on the list of Gaza hostages who are expected to be released in the next round. The Israeli press believes that the delay is due to another violation by Hamas of the part of the agreement that refers to not separating families.
At the time of writing, Hamas had separated two released hostages from their families: Hila Shoshani (13) was separated from her mother, Raaya Shoshani; and Maya Regev (21), who was shot and taken hostage at the music festival, was separated from her brother Itay, who remains in Gaza.
The way in which the Israeli hostages are being released showcases Hamas’s cruelty and the psychological games that the terrorist organization plays. Even watching the footage of the hostage-taking is re-traumatizing for the entire nation.
Now we know the names of each one. We have seen their faces plastered everywhere on posters and we remember the horrific way they were kidnapped. Maya Regev, for example, was on the phone with her father, screaming for her life, telling him that she loved him and that a Hamas terrorist had shot her.
There is also Thomas Hand, father of nine-year-old Emily Hand, who was initially told that his daughter was dead. Many of us saw the painful CNN interview where Thomas told the interviewer that he smiled when he found out that his daughter was murdered, because to him, it was a better outcome than knowing his daughter was in Gaza. I think very few people will ever understand the level of pain that he went through.
As we are seeing more and more hostages released, we are remembering the more than 100 people who are still in Hamas’s captivity, some of whom have no idea of what their fate holds. I saw the video of Evyatar David, 22, who was kidnapped by Hamas from the Supernova music festival. Hamas filmed David and three other men in a dark room, on the floor, handcuffed.
The person filming the video shines a light onto their faces to ensure their families can recognize them. This is the video that David’s family received when they learned of his kidnapping. Imagine getting a message from an unknown number with a video of your missing brother handcuffed to the floor in a dark room.
Currently, David is not on the list of hostages set to be released.
EARLIER IN the week, Gaza networks erupted in a heated debate regarding the hostage deal, with quite a few Gazans opposing the release of Israelis, calling on Hamas to “guard the important assets.”
They released photos of an Israeli woman, Shiri Bibas, holding her two children (most people will recognize their red hair), writing that “they are not allowed to leave Gaza.” One of Shiri’s children, Kfir, is only 10 months old, yet the Gazans writing these messages have labeled him an “important asset,” so the Bibas family is not set to leave.
We cannot forget Avera Mengistu, who isn’t making any headlines but whose release is just as important. Mengistu is an Ethiopian-Israeli who suffers from mental illness, and in September 2014, during one of his episodes, he walked into the Gaza Strip. The Israeli patrols guarding the fence at the time spotted Mengistu near the security fence and allowed him to pass, not knowing he was an Israeli citizen.
It was too late when they found out, and Mengistu was already through the fence. He has been held captive by Hamas in Gaza for more than nine years. His family must be in so much pain, spending all this time trying to get their son back, only to once again have to be subjected to a list.
I believe that on Israel’s end, everything was considered in the careful balancing act of negotiating which hostages needed to be released first. I also don’t doubt that the armed terror group is doing everything possible to continue the unimaginable cruelty, as their only true power against us is psychological warfare.
Throughout all this, I can’t imagine the deep pain that the families of the hostages are going through, especially the ones who, as of now, have no idea if their loved ones will ever get on a list. Imagine the crippling feeling of your friend’s or family’s “worth” being defined by strangers in these governments.
As the hostage situation unfolds, we must approach everything with extreme sensitivity, and we cannot stop speaking about those still held captive. Not until every single Israeli hostage is back home.
The writer is a social media activist with over 10 years of experience working for Israeli and Jewish causes and cause-based NGOs. She is co-founder and COO of Social Lite Creative, a digital marketing firm specializing in geopolitics.