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<\/a>\u2018An Evening of Tears\u2019: Israeli Hostages, Bereaved Relatives Voice Mixed Emotions Ahead of Release Deal<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\nDebbie Weiss<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The families of Israeli hostages, fallen soldiers, and terror victims voiced their feelings Sunday night about\u00a0the pending hostage release from Gaza<\/a>, on what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as \u201can evening of tears and happiness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Ilan Dalal, the father of hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal, said he hoped to hug his son and \u201ctell him that the nightmare is over.\u201d But he also said he didn\u2019t know \u201cwhat kind of son I\u2019m going to get back.\u201d In the last video released of Guy by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, Dalal said he saw \u201cdespair in his eyes,\u201d adding his hope that he would be able to \u201crebuild his life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Dalal spoke alongside former hostage Tal Shoham on a Zoom call with members of the press. Dalal\u2019s son was held in the tunnels in Gaza along with Shoham, Omer Wenkert \u2014 who has since been released \u2014 and Evyatar David, who is set for release on Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n Shoham thanked US President Donald Trump for \u201cmaking the impossible possible\u201d and said he wished he could shake the president\u2019s hand \u201cnot only for this deal but for the deal that released me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Trump departed for Israel and Egypt on Sunday to celebrate the\u00a0US-brokered ceasefire and hostage-release deal<\/span><\/a>\u00a0between\u00a0Israel and Hamas<\/span>\u00a0to halt fighting in Gaza. The war began with Hamas\u2019s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel, during which Palestinian terrorists from Gaza murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages.<\/span><\/p>\n In his remarks Sunday evening, Netanyahu called the impending releases \u201ca historic event, which some did not believe would ever happen,\u201d and urged Israelis to set aside their differences.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWith joint strength, we achieved spectacular victories,\u201d he said, while warning that the military campaign was not over. \u201cThere are still major security challenges ahead of us. Some of our enemies are trying to recover in order to attack us again but we are on this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Not everyone supported the deal, which would see\u00a0around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners released<\/a>\u00a0in exchange for the remaining 48 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.<\/span><\/p>\n Brenda Lemkus, whose daughter Dalia was murdered in a 2014 stabbing attack in the West Bank, joined other bereaved relatives from the Choosing Life group \u2014 which opposes prisoner releases \u2014 in condemning the decision to release her daughter\u2019s killer.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cReleasing him invites the next murder immediately,\u201d Lemkus said. \u201cThe blood of those murdered is on the ministers who voted for this.\u201d She called on Israel to institute the death penalty for terrorists.<\/span><\/p>\n Michael Nurzhitz, brother of reservist Vadim Nurzhitz, said that while he was happy for the hostages and their families, releasing Raed Sheikh \u2014 the terrorist and Palestinian police officer responsible for his brother\u2019s murder \u2014 was \u201cunfathomable,\u201d especially ahead of the 25th anniversary of the incident.<\/span><\/p>\n Vadim Nurzhitz and fellow Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reservist Yossi Avrahami\u00a0were lynched in Ramallah<\/a>\u00a0on Oct. 12, 2000, after accidentally entering the city and being taken into custody at a Palestinian police station.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf they release the murderer, the terrorist will return to terror, just like those released in the Shalit deal \u2014 they will return to murder us,\u201d Nurzhitz said, referring to the 2011 exchange that freed Gilad Shalit in return for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including\u00a0Yahya Sinwar<\/a>, who later masterminded Hamas\u2019s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n Choosing Life petitioned the High Court against the move, saying \u201cthe blood of our children has turned into a tradable commodity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Eliya Atias, whose son Eden was stabbed to death while he was sleeping in 2013, said the release of his son\u2019s murderer was a sacrifice she \u201cfelt good\u201d about making if it meant freeing the hostages.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI am a believing Jew who believes that the Creator will pay him back,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel that thanks to my act, I am saving the lives of my brothers in Gaza.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Emotions were also mixed at a Sukkot event attended by 2,000 bereaved Israelis, organized by OneFamily, which supports victims of terror and their families.<\/span><\/p>\n Hagit Rosenzweig, whose son, Staff Sgt. Eitan Rosenzweig, was killed in Jabalia in north Gaza early in the war, called it a \u201cvery complex day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe are very happy that the hostages are returning, and that families are being reunited. But our son isn\u2019t ever coming home,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n Meir Hershkowitz, whose son Netanel was also killed in Jabalia in October 2024, said he was \u201cthrilled for the families\u201d but urged Israelis not to forget those who were killed.<\/span><\/p>\n Both Rosenzweig and Hershkowitz said they found solace in being with others who shared their loss. \u201cEspecially during the holidays when the absence is most deeply felt. Being here with other families who understand the same pain is powerful,\u201d Hershkowitz said.<\/span><\/p>\n On the Zoom call, Dalal described the rollercoaster of the past two years, noting many moments of \u201cgreat despair,\u201d but said he reminded himself that his son was \u201ccounting on him to be his voice\u201d from inside the tunnels of Gaza.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t have the option to break down,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n Shoham said he endured \u201ctorture, cruelty, and starvation\u201d during his captivity.\u00a0Hamas withheld food<\/a>\u00a0as \u201csadistic psychological warfare,\u201d keeping them on \u201c200 or 300 calories a day\u201d \u2014 first \u201cto make us suffer,\u201d and second \u201cto pressure Israeli society,\u201d he said. He described seeing \u201cboxes and boxes and boxes\u201d of aid diverted by captors who bragged of having supplies \u201cfor months ahead,\u201d while refusing to share it with hostages in the tunnels.<\/span><\/p>\n Shoham distinguished between Hamas and the people around them, while conceding, bleakly, how porous that boundary had become. \u201cI know that there are people who support Hamas \u2014 I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s all of them but a lot of them are part of Hamas and are disguised as civilians.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n His guards, he noted, had ordinary jobs. \u201cOne was a first-grade teacher, another was a lecturer at a university, and another was a doctor. These are normal people becoming terrorists.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Shoham also described the mindset that helped him survive.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI consider myself a spiritual person on a spiritual journey. I believe human life has a purpose,\u201d he said. \u201cDuring captivity, I tried to do everything in my power to honor my life, no matter what they would do to me. We\u2019re not responsible for the terrible things our enemies will do \u2014 or even for any deals that are made. Our only mission is to become better each day and to cleanse ourselves from the cruelty and hell we went through.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Zawarto\u015b\u0107 publikowanych artyku\u0142\u00f3w i materia\u0142\u00f3w nie reprezentuje pogl\u0105d\u00f3w ani opinii Reunion’68,<\/em> \u2018An Evening of Tears\u2019: Israeli Hostages, Bereaved Relatives Voice Mixed Emotions Ahead of Release Deal Debbie Weiss Israeli President Isaac Herzog speaks as he visits a site next to \u201cHostages Square\u201d amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and ahead of the expected return of hostages held in Gaza, in Tel Aviv, Israel, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[33,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124994"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=124994"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125014,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124994\/revisions\/125014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=124994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=124994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=124994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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Israeli President Isaac Herzog speaks as he visits a site next to \u201cHostages Square\u201d amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and ahead of the expected return of hostages held in Gaza, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Oct. 12, 2025. Photo: REUTERS\/Stoyan Nenov<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
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