STORY: :: Israelis remember the hostages still held in Gaza 500 days after being captured by Hamas gunmen
:: February 17, 2025
:: Tel Aviv, Israel
:: Zahiro Shahar, Nephew of Israeli hostage
:: “No one thought it would come to this amount of time. No one thought it would take 500 days. Or even that it would take 100 days. I remember the 100th day all the people were, you know, like, wow, how could we get to the point where we were 100 days missing them and now its 500 days.”
:: Naama Weinberg, Cousin of a slain hostage
:: “And this deal is finally have finally started. And we’re here to shout out that we can’t stop this deal until we get the last hostage back home and that the gaps need to close. It needs to be much faster.”
:: Efrat Machikawa, Relative of a hostage
:: It’s hard to breathe. It’s hard to maintain normal life. It’s hard to go back to academia. It’s hard to go back to business. It’s hard. Israel is not a whole. And we should know that light will overcome this darkness.”
The families reflected on the 500 days as a very long time to have people held in captivity for, demanding the release of all remaining hostages held in Gaza.
There had been growing alarm that the ceasefire agreement could unravel before the end of the 42-day first stage of the truce pact in effect since January 19, leaving many families worried about the return of their loved ones.
Nineteen Israeli and five Thai hostages have been released so far, with 73 still in captivity, around half of whom have been declared dead in absentia by Israeli authorities. The ceasefire’s second phase is meant to usher in negotiations to return the remaining living hostages.
Israel’s security cabinet is expected to convene on Monday to discuss the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
