Daniel Lifshitz runs his hands through his short black hair. He is trying to remain calm, because maybe this time the negotiators will reach a hostage agreement.
“We’ve had a lot of roller-coasters, but now it feels like something is different,” he said.
Hamas has reportedly agreed to a list of the names of 34 hostages still held in Gaza – people who will be freed if a ceasefire agreement with the Israeli government currently under discussion in Qatar goes ahead. The list was first published by Saudi broadcaster Asharq, which quickly reached Israeli media.
The list includes the names of Lifshitz’s grandfathers Oded, 84, and Arbel Yehud, 29. A sweatshirt worn by Lifshitz in Tel Aviv featured a photo of Yehud beaming at the camera wearing a white dress and a white hairband.
Yehud is the younger sister of Lifshitz’s friend Dolev, who was killed in a Hamas attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2024. About 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were abducted and taken to Gaza during Hamas attacks.
One of the first hostages to be released was Lifshitz’s grandmother. Released 17 days later, photos of 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz standing next to a masked Hamas fighter went viral around the world.
Since then, she said, she has been waiting for the other hostages to return.
year without deals
In November 2023, a limited ceasefire was reached, under which 105 Israeli hostages were released in exchange for 150 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. There has been no similar exchange since.
It is estimated that 100 hostages are still being held in Gaza. 29 of them were kidnapped from Nir Oz, the area where Lifshitz grew up.
Exactly how many hostages are still alive is unclear. The Israeli military has occasionally found bodies of hostages in Gaza, including this week, when it reported finding two bodies. One of the dead hostages, 53-year-old Yosef Alzayedani, was on a list of names to be released that is currently being discussed in Qatar.
“Today I feel bad thinking that in a month or two, if this deal doesn’t close, we’ll probably see even more names on the list that won’t be on it,” Lifshitz said.
‘Israel has refused to end the war’
Gershon Baskin, a peace activist who says he is one of the only Israelis who has had direct contact with Hamas members over the years, said: “Hamas has wanted an agreement for months.”
In 2011, Baskin negotiated the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been held hostage in Gaza for five years. Shalit was exchanged for more than 1,000 Palestinians held by Israel. They included Yahya Sinwar, who would go on to lead Hamas’s military wing. Sinwar is considered the chief architect of the October 7 attack and was killed in a shootout with Israeli forces in Gaza in October 2024.
Baskin said, “Hamas wants a comprehensive agreement that ends the war, returns all hostages, frees Palestinian prisoners and pulls Israel out of Gaza.” “But Israel has refused to end the war.”
Baskin said he had doubts about a deal for the named hostages because he said they were originally on the list published by the Israelis in the summer. And, according to its sources, Hamas knows the whereabouts of only 20 surviving hostages.
“They need a ceasefire with free movement and no flyovers to find out what happened to all the hostages,” Baskin said.
Since Israel killed Sinwar, Hamas has had no real leadership, Baskin said, complicating efforts to pressure the organization, which the United States, Germany, Israel and several other governments have designated a terrorist group. Listed as.
Trump’s inauguration presents an opportunity
The next U.S. president will be sworn in on Jan. 20 and, Baskin said, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “may want to give Donald Trump a gift in his first days in office.”
Baskin said he has told his Hamas contacts to realize the opportunity that Trump’s inauguration offers to reach a comprehensive agreement.
“What I was trying to convey to Hamas was that, if they made public that they were willing to release all hostages and Palestinian prisoners in exchange for ending the war and Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, the Israeli public would be critical of Netanyahu. The pressure would become so strong, Baskin said, “she would have no choice.”
According to opinion polls, more than 80% of Israelis would support a deal in which the hostages would be released in exchange for the Palestinians. The cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem are filled with posters, graffiti and stickers with pictures of hostages and calls to bring them home.
It also includes photographs of 19-year-old soldier Nimrod Cohen. He was abducted from Nahal Oz, an Israeli military base on the Gaza border.
His brother Yotam Cohen said, “We know he is one of the last people to be released. He is male, he is young, he is healthy and he was a soldier.” Cohen’s name is not on the list of hostages to be released and his family wants to ensure that a second round of talks takes place.
“They are all on the verge of dying,” Yotam Cohen said. “There is absolutely no reason to release some and release others.”
end the war
Yotam Cohen said that he holds Netanyahu responsible for the failure to release his brother and other hostages and that he believes Israel’s ongoing campaign in Gaza is killing the hostages.
Shortly after October 7, Cohen himself served in Gaza. According to the United Nations, more than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed during the campaign, mainly by Israeli airstrikes. The majority of those killed were women and children, hospitals and medical facilities were destroyed by Israeli forces, and aid organizations have repeatedly reported severe malnutrition and even the threat of starvation in Gaza.
Yotam Cohen said that he believes Hamas has been mostly defeated militarily, yet Israeli soldiers in Gaza are still dying and remaining hostages are suffering.
“We’re looking at pictures of Gaza,” Yotam Cohen said. “I don’t hate Gazans. I believe that the people of Gaza – and I know the people of Israel – want to end the war. Even if I were asked, I would still be a soldier in Gaza. “I will refuse to go back as.” .There is no other reason [for us] To be in Gaza.”
This does not mean that people should not serve in the military or that they should refuse to register, he said: it is more an appeal to the Israeli government not to send more troops into this conflict, and to end it, and bring . All mortgaged houses.
This story was originally published in German.
