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The second phase of the ceasefire-hostage deal remains in shaky territory as negotiators in Doha work to iron out the details for the release of the remaining hostages.
By SHOSH BEDROSIAN FEBRUARY 6, 2025 22:07 Updated: FEBRUARY 6, 2025 22:13
Nissan Calderon, the brother of released hostage Ofer Calderon speaks during a press conference in Tel Aviv on February 6, 2025.
(photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/FLASH90)
The fire burning inside the hostages’ families has become stronger with every release that has taken place over the past few weeks of phase one of the ceasefire-hostage deal.
“[US] President [Donald] Trump, we rely on you,” said Yeela David, the sister of hostage Evyatar David, 24, who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival when he was 22.
The invigorating feeling of seeing loved ones reuniting with their families after months of Hamas captivity is a guiding light in the fight to get all remaining hostages, alive and dead, back home.
“I know all too closely the feeling of reuniting a family after a period of hell. Each hug is a whole world,” Meital Weiss said recently at a press conference at the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters.
Weiss’s family was kidnapped on October 7 from Kibbutz Be’eri. She reunited with her mother and sister in November 2023 after they had spent more than 50 days in captivity.
Her father, Ilan Weiss, was killed on October 7, and his body was dragged into Gaza. Weiss says her fight to get her father’s body back home might not be like everyone else’s story, but it’s the only way to close the circle of pain her family experienced every day since then.
“For my family, this hug will no longer come. We will not wait for my father at the border crossing and we will not watch with excitement as he gets out of the Red Cross vehicle,” she said. “Our family will not be able to come together until my father returns and is given a proper burial.”
Within the last two and a half weeks, 18 Israeli and five Thai hostages have been released and returned home after more than 15 months of brutal Hamas captivity. The stories of their physical, mental, and psychological abuse are only starting to come to light as their long rehabilitation processes begin.
“Don’t let the photos mislead you. While it appears from the outside that Ofer has returned home, the reality is far more complex,” said Nissan Kalderon of his brother, who was released last week.
Ofer Kalderon, 54, was released on Saturday and was seen in a video walking in Gaza before getting into a Red Cross vehicle. The Nir Oz resident reunited with emotional embraces and moments with his family, including his children.
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But early testimony from his family, reported by Walla, said Kalderon suffered months of abuse, and during the first few weeks in captivity, he was held “in a cage” for some time.
The harrowing stories of released hostages’ experiences in captivity continue to renew the importance of bringing everyone home.
“My brother was born again, our family was born again, but our struggle is not over. It just stopped for a moment,” said Kalderon. “Ofer talks a lot about the urgent need for the return of the abducted.”
Ongoing ceasefire-hostage deal
The ongoing fight to get the remaining 75 hostages back home is in a fragile state. With recent comments made by Trump that the US will take over Gaza, own it, and resettle Palestinians in nearby countries, officials fear it could delay hostage releases and negotiations in the future.
The second phase of the ceasefire-hostage deal remains in shaky territory as Israeli negotiators in Doha work to iron out the details for the release of the remaining hostages and bodies.
“The fate of Evyatar’s life and the lives of the men who remain behind is in your hands. This must happen in this deal. If not, a huge black spot will remain in the history of our country,” said David.
Evyatar was not listed on the first phase of the ceasefire-hostage deal because of his age and gender, but his family is hoping and relying on the US government that there will be a plan in this deal to get him home.
“President Trump, we rely on you to bring back my brother and all the other hostages back home,” she said.
English (US) ·