‘Now is the time': Hostage families push for Gaza deal following Iran truce
Viki Cohen, whose 19-year-old son Nimrod has been held captive for 627 days, represents the frustration of hostage families.
Of the 251 people originally abducted by Hamas on 7 October 2023, 49 are still being held in Gaza and at least 27 confirmed dead.
Families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza hope the ceasefire with Iran marks a turning point - one that could lead to a truce with Hamas and finally bring their loved ones home.
Israel and Iran agreed to halt hostilities after exchanging missile strikes for 12 days, but Israel's offensive in Gaza has been dragging on ever since it was sparked by a deadly Hamas attack in October 2023.
'The Israeli government started a war with Iran without finishing the one still ongoing in Gaza,' said Viki Cohen, whose son Nimrod has been held hostage in the coastal strip for 627 days.
Speaking at her home in Rehovot, a city near the Mediterranean coast, following the ceasefire, she hoped the Israeli government would now secure the release of the hostages.
During the 12-day war, as air raid sirens wailed and military officials gave televised addresses, Cohen said she felt 'as if no one was talking about (the hostages) as if they had been forgotten'.
READ | Israel returns 2 bodies of Hamas hostages in Gaza 'special operation'
As soon as the sirens fell silent, the hostages' families resumed issuing statements and organising rallies demanding their release.
'Those who are capable of reaching a ceasefire with Iran can also put an end to the war in Gaza,' said the Hostages' and Missing Families Forum, the main association of relatives of those abducted in Gaza.
'Volunteer fighter' held
Viki Cohen and her husband regularly join in demonstrations, holding up signs or photos to demand the release of the hostages, more than 20 months after the start of the war.
On Tuesday, they were in Tel Aviv to attend the funeral of Yonatan Samerano, a young hostage whose body was recently brought back from Gaza by the army. At the burial, Viki Cohen embraced Yonatan's mother Ayelet.
Nimrod Cohen, then aged 19, was kidnapped on 7 October 2023, by Hamas fighters while he was in his tank on the border of the Gaza Strip.
'Nimrod enlisted out of conviction; he was a volunteer fighter with an ideal of defending his country and its citizens,' his mother told AFP.
She said:
Now his country is abandoning him and not doing everything necessary to bring him back.
In her son's bedroom, his figurine collections stand neatly arranged on the shelves.
'I even miss the usual mess in his room,' his mother said with a smile.
She showed Nimrod's Rubik's Cube, which the army found in his tank and returned to her.
As he never went anywhere without it, Cohen had a Rubik's Cube added to the T-shirts she had printed, bearing her son's picture.
'Nimrod is a wonderful child, a child full of light, very sensitive, with a very rich inner world... He is always ready to help; he never complains about anything,' she said.
'I hope that's what's helping him survive.'
The only visual proof of life she has had of her son was a video of hostages released by Hamas. Though his face was blurred, she recognised him by a tattoo on his forearm.
'Window of opportunity'
Of the 251 people abducted in Israel by Hamas on 7 October 2023, scores have been exchanged in return for Palestinian prisoners during temporary truces.
Forty-nine are still being held in Gaza, of whom at least 27 have been confirmed dead by Israeli authorities.
Cohen said she feels 'immense frustration at having got to this point. Nimrod has been there for 627 days.'
The hope of seeing her son again is what keeps her going.
'I've been picturing his return since 7 October,' she said.
At the funeral of Yonatan Samerano, among portraits of the hostages and yellow ribbons - the symbol of the movement calling for their return - many of their relatives shared Cohen's feelings.
'Hamas is at its weakest point. It's possible to propose a deal that we, as Israelis, could accept,' said Ruby Chen, whose son Itay was killed on 7 October while serving in the army, and whose body is being held in Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to crush Hamas and bring all the hostages home, while also weakening other groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon.
'I'd like to believe that Netanyahu and his government understand that recent changes in the Middle East are opening a window of opportunity,' said Chen.
'After defeating Iran, after defeating Hezbollah, now is the time to bring everyone else home and end the conflict in Gaza as well.'
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