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Freed Israeli Hostages, Families of Captives React to Collapse of Gaza Ceasefire
Families and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas gather to demand a deal that will bring back all the hostages held in Gaza, outside a meeting between hostage representatives and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem, Jan. 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Freed Israeli hostages and families of those in captivity in Gaza reacted to news of Israel resuming military operations against Hamas as the ceasefire and hostage-release deal between them collapsed on Monday night.
“We heard from survivors who returned from hell, and the message was clear: We must immediately return to a ceasefire,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the largest organization dedicated to the release of the hostages, wrote on X. “The lives of our loved ones hang by a thread and cannot endure much longer. After surviving months in captivity against all odds, they are now in critical danger. Only a deal can bring back all the hostages.”
Since Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7, 2023 — in which the Palestinian terrorist group led the massacre of 1,200 people and kidnapping of 251 hostages during their invasion of southern Israel — well over 100 hostages have been released through negotiated ceasefire deals, and the Israeli military has rescued a smaller number in special operations.
There are currently 59 hostages still in Hamas’s captivity in Gaza, and over half of them are believed to be dead.
In another post, the forum wrote that, at a news conference, the families of some hostages “warned that continued fighting would lead to more hostage deaths and urged an immediate ceasefire and return to negotiations to secure the release of all remaining hostages.”
Noa Argamani, who became famous on Oct. 7, 2023, after an image of her being kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival — where Hamas murdered hundreds of young people — and separated from her boyfriend, Avinatan Or, was seen widely. Argamani, who has been speaking across the United States to advocate for the release of the rest of the hostages since her rescue from Hapas captivity last year, shared a message this week about the end of the ceasefire.
“Fighting Resumes. Two words, and so many emotions inside. Suddenly, out of the silence, all hopes explode in an instant,” Argamani wrote. “Two words, but for the hostages inside, they mean explosions and noises that bring back the fear of dying.”
Argamani explained the hope she felt in captivity when she heard of the first ceasefire and hostage-release deal in November 2023. “Every day, I held on to that hope. I told myself there was no way I wouldn’t make it out alive.”
“But then, in a single moment,” she continued, “we started hearing the explosions again. Suddenly, all the dreams of going home, of hugging family and friends — shattered in an instant. The thought of seeing the light again felt so far away. One moment, the ceasefire was gone, and with it, the hope that I would get out of there alive.”
Argamani concluded: “I’m sorry, Avinatan. I’m sorry that for 529 days, you haven’t seen daylight. I’m sorry that you were left behind. We must save them! Too many hostages who were taken alive — were murdered in captivity. We must save every living soul! This is our mission. We cannot leave them behind.”
Similarly, Yarden Bibas, who was held hostage for over a year and whose wife and children — Shiri, Kfir, and Ariel — were all murdered by Hamas, posted on Facebook against the decision to renew the war.
“Israel’s decision to return to fighting brings me back to Gaza, to the moments where I heard the sounds of explosions around me and where I feared for my life as I was afraid the tunnel where I was being held would collapse,” Bibas wrote. “My wife and children were kidnapped alive and brutally murdered in captivity. The military pressure endangers the hostages while an agreement brings them home.”
“We must stop the fighting and bring everyone home first of all,” he concluded.
However, not all hostages and hostage families oppose revamping the war effort.
The Tikva Forum — a right-wing alternative to the main hostage family organizations — wrote in a statement that it fully supports resuming fighting against Hamas, arguing it is only intense pressure on the terrorist group that will result in the hostages being freed.
“The past few weeks have proven what we have been saying all along – Hamas will never return all the abductees voluntarily,” the Tikva Forum wrote. “Only massive military pressure, a complete blockade that includes a power and water cut, and the occupation of territories that will lead to Hamas’s collapse, will lead it to beg for a ceasefire and a deal that will return all the abductees together, in one fell swoop.”
It concluded, “If the attack that began [Monday] continues with force and without interruption, we will be able to bring all our loved ones home in one fell swoop, on one bus.”
The post Freed Israeli Hostages, Families of Captives React to Collapse of Gaza Ceasefire first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.