Eli Albag had been fighting for the release of his daughter, who was held captive in Gaza, for almost a year when she was pelted with eggs and verbally abused.
The father of Hamas hostage Lili Arbag was recently protesting outside a political event attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the coastal city of Netanya.
There he was attacked and yelled at by right-wing activists. “We've made enough noise, so please be quiet,” one said to him. Another man accused of being “funded by Hamas” called out: “You are a cancer on this country.”
It has been a full year since the start of the Israeli hostage crisis and the war in Gaza, which was sparked by the abduction of 251 Israelis and other nationals in a border attack by Hamas on October 7th. As the situation becomes ever more difficult, advocacy for the remaining prisoners has become more politicized.
Incidents like the one targeting Al-Bagh are rare amid widespread support for the families of the hostages, who remain in captivity as focus shifts from Israel's Gaza operation to its conflict with Hezbollah in the north. As for the people, they are watching as there is no movement. Hamas.
Over the years, the hopes raised by the release of 117 hostages early in the war (including 105 in exchanges during a short ceasefire in November 2023) have continued to rise as the offensive drags on and the wartime population remains alive. Disappeared as more dead hostages were discovered than hostages. Israeli strategy.
The glacial pace of negotiations towards a hostage ceasefire agreement has been interrupted by grim news over the fate of the hostages found murdered, with critics saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in no hurry to move forward with negotiations. There is. Some relatives of the remaining hostages compared their situation to being trapped in a swamp, unable to move forward.
In her new home in a kibbutz near Netanya, Bathsheva Yahalomi knows what it's like to see a child released and know that her husband is missing.
They lived in Kibbutz Nir Oz, where a quarter of the population was killed or kidnapped. Bathsheba's husband, Ohad, was injured in the first attack. In the chaos, Bathsheba and her two daughters were separated from their teenage son Eitan and taken to the Gaza border on a motorbike. She and her daughters manage to escape, but Eitan and Ohad are abducted by another group.
“At the beginning of the war, the idea of kidnapping and the fact that children and women were taken away was shocking to everyone, so I think there was an urgent need to rescue them,” she said.
Like many of the families of the remaining hostages, Bathsheba noticed a subtle change in attitude after the impetus for the agreement that freed more than 100 hostages. Support remains strong, but momentum is waning as other considerations come into play.
“There are extremists in Israel who accept the hostage situation and think they have a bigger goal. I think it's a small group, but most people are supportive.
“We are all surprised that the war in Gaza has lasted so long. It's scary, we know how much hell the hostages are going through every day. The hardest part is , to understand how they are being treated. But what's worse is that they are losing hope.
Her son, who was released after spending 16 days alone with his captors, began losing his hair and sleepwalking as a result of the stress he endured.
“Kids have a lot of questions about Ohad. Why is it taking so long? Will he come back? Is he alive, and if he is alive, how was he treated? ”
The last time she heard about Ohad was in January. Since then, there have been claims from inside Gaza that he was killed. “There are days when I feel really hopeful. And then there are days when I almost lose hope. But the longer this goes on, the harder it becomes to have hope,” Bathsheva said.
Despite the ongoing pain of not knowing, she is keenly aware that some in Israeli society have misgivings about the hostage trade, even as she desperately wants it to happen.
“I think most people in Israel still believe that Israel should pay a high price to get the hostages back,” she said. “The difference today is that in the immediate trauma of October 7, there are smaller, more radical groups that were previously unreachable. Some say it could happen again.
“The situation in Israel is very complicated, but behind closed doors I hope everyone is doing the best they can. I prefer to be naive. I don't want to be at odds with the government because I don't want to have a solution.” Because it doesn't help bring about it.”
At the headquarters of the Hostage and Missing Families Forum in Tel Aviv, Noam Peri, whose father Chaim, 79, a veteran peace activist, was kidnapped in Nir Oz, recently expressed his hope that his family would be saved. I heard the news. He died in a narrow tunnel 20 meters underground.
The hostage posters in the Forum's offices dramatize the various outcomes of recent months, annotated with black marker, and several with the word “murder” written on them. Only one of them had the words “Welcome home” written on it.
From testimonies from released hostages and other information, Noem knows that her father probably survived in Gaza for at least four months. She also believes she missed an opportunity that could have saved him.
“He was a peace activist. He believed in humanity. Yesterday, I spoke to my mother and I thought maybe what he went through changed his mind. Probably not. But I can't imagine what he went through. The part I know is terrible. I know he was captured alive. We know that he was taken to the tunnels, and on the 18th of June he was taken into custody. I was informed that he had been murdered inside.
“It's true that my father and the people who were with him lived longer lives. I don't pretend to know certain actions, opportunities, what was at the table, but I know there were opportunities. Masu.”
Noem described his meetings with diplomats and officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu. “The only person I've never met is [the Hamas leader Yahya] Shinwar. If I'm angry with the Israeli side, it's because the Israeli side is the only one I can count on. ”
For Noem, if there was a missed opportunity, it was in the weeks following hostage release negotiations in November. “I think we were a little naive,” she said. “We knew that the release had happened, and we thought that with a little more effort, a little more military pressure, we could get back to negotiations.”
On the issue of military pressure, Nome is conflicted.
“I think we believed that military pressure was a necessary condition, and of course we were afraid of military action, but rightly so because we know the consequences. Now I believe that the consequences of that pressure are I'm angry because… yes, it killed my father. I'm angry because my father and most of the other hostages who were killed were directly or indirectly related to that pressure. I can't help but feel this.
For Aviva Siegel, who was held hostage for 51 days before being released as part of the November exchange, the fact that her husband, Keith, remains in captivity is painfully graphic.
“Time just flies by. He's running out. He's losing weight day by day and he's losing hope. It's cruel just thinking about the dire situation. He was there for 51 days, and his weight… Lost 10 kilos. We don't know anything. We don't know if he's alone.
“I'm still in Gaza. I remember how I felt, how I lost hope and thought I would die there.”
Like many relatives of the remaining hostages, Aviva is angry that political considerations are influencing what appears to be a simple, humane and instinctively felt demand.
“Enough is enough. One year is too long. I can't take it anymore, I want to ask Vivi. [Netanyahu] and [president Joe] What should I do when Biden Keith is still there?
“I think Prime Minister Netanyahu is well aware of what is happening to the hostages. We cannot let them die slowly. I was there too, and I almost died in the tunnel. It is extremely unfortunate that politics intervened in something as human as the hostage crisis.
Like others who spoke to the Guardian, Aviva is highly skeptical of the Israeli government's claims that it can only get its loved ones back through further military pressure. More wars will only bring more bodies back. “That’s the proof, that’s exactly what happens.
“I've talked about what happened to me so many times and it feels like it gets put in a drawer full of terrible stories and then it gets shut down. And all we get is when the body comes back.” All you have to do is come.”
Israel's war has spread beyond Gaza to further frontlines, further increasing insecurity. “I'm getting more and more worried about what's going on. I don't know what it means for the hostages. Is there anyone who can look me in the eye and say it's going to help us get them back?” There aren't any.
“I just want to hear good news. I'm tired of waking up every morning and hearing bad news.”
