“My wife and children were kidnapped alive and were brutally murdered in captivity. The military pressure endangers the hostages while an agreement brings them home.”
Yarden Bibas shared a photo with his best friends, David and Ariel Cunio (X)[Missing Credit]
Bibas shared a photo with his best friends, brothers David Cunio and Ariel Cunio, who are still held hostage in Gaza.
Released hostage Naama Levy posted a similar message on Instagram, writing that she was “heartbroken this morning”
“They [the remaining hostages] woke up to a day that starts the nightmare all over again: the constant existential fear, the bombings every morning, the terror, the helplessness, and the disappointment like no other. Once again, they have been abandoned. They are risking their lives, and yet, they are still not being brought to safety,” she wrote.
Released hostage Noa Argamani, whose boyfriend, Avinatan Or, is still being held captive, posted on X that hope had “exploded in an instant” and hostages would fear death.
Argamani was rescued from Hamas captivity in an IDF operation last August. She wrote on X, “I remember how, in November 2023, we heard the word hudna – a ceasefire – for the first time. And suddenly, we started seeing things move, people being released. Every day that passed, the terrorists looked at me and said, ‘Tomorrow, you'll go home.’
“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, 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.”
She went on to apologise to her boyfriend: “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.”
Eliya Cohen, who was freed from captivity last month, said that he feared for the life of his brother who is still held hostage: “My brother, Alon Ohel, is wrapped in bicycle chains with chains on his legs, and eats one pita with mold and two spoons of fava beans each day,” Cohen wrote, referring to his brother who was left in the Gaza’s tunnel network when Cohen, Or Levy and Eli Sharabi were freed.
“It’s just impossible to grasp, and there are no words to describe the lack of understanding in our country about what is taking place 50 meters underground,” said Cohen. “And if there is any understanding, then how to explain this abandonment and lack of attention to human life?”
Omer Wenkert, who was released after 500 days in captivity, said: “Have you listened to a word of what we freed hostages have been telling you? Do you not see us?
“This dangerous decision will have an untold effect on those of us who are still held there. And I say ‘on us’ because those who are there are me, and I am them. I’m still there! Until the last hostage is released I am still there!”
The family of those still being held hostage have also spoken out against the renewed fighting.
Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan, implored others to join her at a protest. In a post on Facebook, she wrote: "I am going to [southern Israel's] Nir Oz to physically block the return to fighting with my body.”
"I won't have the intelligence officer knock on my door to tell me Matan was murdered."
She asked the public to join her "in the surrounding settlements, at the assembly points, to create a human chain, to save the hostages and the country from the war."
Ayelet Svatitzky, the British Israeli sister of slain hostage, Nadav Popplewell, addressed a protest in Jerusalem on Tuesday. “I'm an Israeli British citizen and so were both my brothers,” she said. “On June 2024, we received the devastating news – Nadav had been murdered in captivity."
Families of deceased hostages said "It was too late for us, but for other hostages it is not too late." (Photo: Bring Them Home X account)[Missing Credit]
“For months I travelled the world desperately fighting to bring my brother home alive, but unfortunately it was too late for us,” she said.
“For other hostages, it is not too late, their lives can still be saved. There are 59 hostages still trapped in Gaza, enduring unthinkable horrors – starved, tortured, chained – they are struggling to survive. They can still be saved, and they can still be brought home.
“We must do everything in our power to bring them back. We must return to the ceasefire negotiations and secure their release. A deal is the only way to bring them all back.
“Please do not let other families suffer the same fate as mine, there is still time and there are still lives to save,” Svatitzky told the crowd.
Lishay Miran-Lavi, whose husband Omri has been held in Gaza since he was abducted from Kibbutz Nahal Oz. posted an emoji of a broken heart on X. She recently told Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer that if the hostages do not return alive, their blood would be on his hands.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said the resumption of fighting in Gaza was "The greatest fear of the families.” The families’ statement accused the Israeli government of choosing to "give up on the hostages."
“We heard from survivors who returned from hell, and the message was clear: We must immediately return to a ceasefire. 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,” families of the hostages said in a statement on the Bring Them Home Now X account.
British ambassador to Israel, Simon Walters, condemned the renewed IDF operations in Gaza and implored parties to resume diplomatic efforts.
“We all want to see Hamas defeated and we are desperate for the hostages to return home, but renewed IDF operations in Gaza will achieve neither of those aims. Instead, there will be more death: of hostages, of Palestinian civilians, of IDF soldiers,” he wrote.
“I have worked in and around conflicts for thirty years, and grew up in Northern Ireland during the height of the terrorist campaigns. One of the main lessons I take from that experience is that at some point the fighting has to stop and the diplomacy begin.”
Screenshot from Emily Damari's Instagram[Missing Credit]