Divided on hostage deal
Ohad Zwigenberg/AP
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a volunteer-based organization, said the agreement is a “significant step forward” to bring Israeli hostages home, expressing “profound gratitude” to the US and international mediators involved in brokering the peace deal.
“Since November 2023, we have been anxiously awaiting this moment,” the organization said in a statement, “and now, after over 460 days of our family members being held in Hamas tunnels, we are closer than ever to reuniting with our loved ones.”
“However, deep anxiety and concerns accompany us regarding the possibility that the agreement might not be fully implemented, leaving hostages behind. We urgently call for swift arrangements to ensure all phases of the deal are carried out,” the group continued.
Though a majority of Israelis support the peace deal, the Tivka Forum, a right-wing organization advocating for the release of hostages, said they believe the agreement includes steep concessions, like the release of Palestinian prisoners, that could compromise Israel’s national security and its leverage against Hamas.
“The proposed deal endangers the hostages and endangers the State of Israel,” the organization said in a statement. “It is high time we stop the immoral surrender to terror, and demand that all the hostages be released at once, unconditionally and immediately.”
The forum added: “Our only option is to win this war and to remove any incentive to ever attack Israel again.”
