The two little boys could be released by Hamas if they are still alive. “It's like a roller coaster ride”

When Hamas attacked Israel, Kfir was only nine months old. It is possible that it was in captivity that he took his first steps and learned to speak. The boy was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz in an attack on October 7, 2023. Hamas terrorists also kidnapped his parents and older brother. On Saturday, Kfir will celebrate its second birthday.

– It's like a roller coaster ride. I can't breathe. We don't know if our loved ones are on the list or even alive. We don't know anything. It's terrifying, says Yosi Schnaider, a relative of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas.

The Bibas family is among the most famous hostages kidnapped by Hamas. Ariel and Kfir are the only Israeli children allowed to be held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

In November 2023, Hamas reported that the boys and their mother were killed in Israeli shelling, but the Israeli authorities have not confirmed these reports, which is why their loved ones are clinging to hope. According to Israeli media, the children are said to be among a group of more than 30 hostages who will be released in the first six weeks of the ceasefire agreement.

“We are aware of these reports. (…) However, we have drawn conclusions from previous experiences and disappointments, so until our loved ones cross the border, this story will not end for us,” reads a fragment of the Bibas family's statement.

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Nearly one hundred hostages are being held in the Gaza Strip. According to Israel, some of them are dead. The families of the abductees want the nightmare that has been going on for 15 months to finally end.

– Nobody tells us anything. I hope that a miracle will happen and it will turn out that my brother is alive, says Daniel Algarat, a relative of one of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas.

– The last time I heard about my brother was nine months ago, when Hamas released a video of him. He was 64 years old then, but he looked 84. He was very exhausted, says Lee Siegel, a relative of one of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas.

Ruth is waiting for her sons to return home, and since their kidnapping, she has been involved in a campaign to free all the hostages. The last information he has about his children comes from November 2023, when people released during a short-lived ceasefire admitted that they had seen the brothers alive. According to Ruth, one of her sons will most likely be freed soon, the other – at least for now – will remain in captivity.

– I don't know if they are together, although deep down I feel like they are. But what happens when they are separated and told that one is leaving and the other is not? – asks Ruth Strum, mother of hostages kidnapped by Hamas.

Among the hostages kidnapped by Hamas is violinist and soldier Agam Berger. A young woman was kidnapped just 24 hours after starting her job in the army.

– My cousin is a beautiful young girl who has been in the hands of people who, in one day, committed the worst atrocities against women for 15 months. We know what Hamas did on October 7. The freed hostages told what happened to them in captivity. This is my biggest fear. I don't need to go into details. I think everyone understands what I mean, says Ashley Waxman Bakshi, a relative of a hostage kidnapped by Hamas.

ZAKA – a religious search and rescue organization that intends to help the abductees deal with the trauma – is preparing for the return of the hostages to Israel.

– I think that, first of all, we will have to help them regain their dignity. We will have to help them get back together and make them feel safe, says Vered Atzmon Meshulam, a psychologist from ZAKA.

If the deal goes through, the first hostages will return to Israel on Sunday. Hamas is scheduled to release three people that day.