A South Florida family is hoping their loved one will be able to return home after Israel and Hamas agreed to a deal that will allow Hamas to release 50 of their hostages this week.
Israel and Hamas agreed to the four-day halt, which was announced Wednesday, and will also see the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. The deal was brokered by Qatar, the U.S. and Egypt and was made public as fighting intensified in central neighborhoods of Gaza City. Israeli officials said the truce would take effect before Friday.
Oded Eshel told Local 10 News Wednesday that his 26-year-old cousin, Alon Shamriz, is among the 239 innocent people who are missing, presumed kidnapped by Hamas.
“Hearing about the hostage deal absolutely gives us hope,” he said.
Eshel said Shamriz, who lives in the Kfar Aza kibbutz near the Gaza border, was among those areas overrun by Hamas terrorists going door to door on a killing and kidnapping spree.
Local 10 News also heard from Israel’s Consul General to South Florida, Maor Elbaz Starinsky, who said that he is monitoring the situation closely with the hope that Hamas will keep their word in freeing the hostages.
“We will never abandon our commitment to bring all of them back home,” he said. “We’re dealing with vicious, brutal, cruel terrorists. Unfortunately, these are the people that we need to deal with to bring our people back home.”
Qatar announced Wednesday that those 50 released by both sides will be women and children.
Despite the conflict, Shamriz’s family continues to reel but remain hopeful that he will be home sooner rather than later.
“There’s opportunities for additional days for the pause in fighting and the more civilians that are able to be released, so that’s absolutely encouraging,” he said.
Eshel says he and his family know Shamriz will likely not be among the first hostages to be released, but the mere existence of a deal provides some hope.
It caps weeks of fitful indirect negotiations and sets the stage for a tense period that could determine the course of the war, which was set off by Hamas’ Oct. 7 raid and has killed more than 11,000 Palestinians, according to authorities. Hamas and other militant groups abducted some 240 and killed at least 1,200 people.
Israel said the truce would be extended by a day for every 10 additional hostages are released.