{"id":44173,"date":"2025-02-22T04:01:23","date_gmt":"2025-02-22T09:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/live-updates-hamas-is-set-to-release-more-hostages-from-gaza\/22\/02\/2025\/"},"modified":"2025-02-22T04:01:23","modified_gmt":"2025-02-22T09:01:23","slug":"live-updates-hamas-is-set-to-release-more-hostages-from-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/live-updates-hamas-is-set-to-release-more-hostages-from-gaza\/22\/02\/2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Live Updates: Hamas Is Set to Release More Hostages From Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

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For Jonathan Dekel-Chen, every day this week has been a mixture of joy and grief. He is celebrating the return of his son Sagui, who was released over the weekend as part of the cease-fire deal with Hamas. But reminders of Sagui\u2019s ordeal, and the torments of the remaining hostages, are impossible to escape.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is a day with very mixed feelings,\u201d Mr. Dekel-Chen said in an interview on Thursday.<\/p>\n

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He had just visited his son in a Tel Aviv-area hospital on a day when Hamas turned over coffins that were said to contain the remains of four of Mr. Dekel-Chen\u2019s neighbors in Kibbutz Nir Oz, where about a quarter of the 400 residents were either killed or taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023.<\/p>\n

It has been 504 days since the Hamas-led attack, and roughly 60 hostages have yet to come home. \u201cWe need to double down now on getting all the hostages home,\u201d Mr. Dekel-Chen said. The four bodies returned on Thursday were said to include three members of the Bibas family \u2014 Ariel Bibas, 4, and Kfir Bibas, who was just 10 months old, and their mother, Shiri Bibas. The Bibases came to symbolize the plight of the captives after videos of them being taken to Gaza went viral.<\/p>\n

But early Friday, the Israeli military announced that the remains in what was said to be Ms. Bibas\u2019s coffin did not match the identity of any of the hostages. \u201cThis is a violation of utmost severity,\u201d the military said.<\/p>\n

The authorities did confirm the children\u2019s remains, and those of Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was killed in captivity by the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

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Hostages being handed over in Khan Younis, Gaza, this month as part of a hostage and prisoner deal.<\/span>Credit…<\/span>Saher Alghorra for The New York Times<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Mr. Lifshitz, a retired journalist, was captured along with his wife, Yocheved Lifshitz<\/a>, who was released weeks into the war for what Hamas called \u201chumanitarian and health reasons<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

She has described abuse and harrowing conditions in Hamas\u2019s underground tunnels, warning that other hostages would not be able to endure them.<\/a><\/p>\n

Before the war, Mr. Lifshitz volunteered to drive Gazans seeking medical treatment to hospitals in Israel and was a founding member of a branch of Peace Now, a group advocating a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mr. Dekel-Chen, who was friends with Mr. Lifshitz for decades, said he \u201cwas a man truly committed to his values.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thousands of Israelis paid tribute to Mr. Lifshitz and the other hostages during a Thursday night rally in what has become known as Hostage Square in Tel Aviv. They were also there to pressure the Israeli government to secure the release of those still being held.<\/p>\n

Rally speakers demanded that the Netanyahu government not let the cease-fire fall apart. The first phase of the agreement between Israel and Hamas took effect in January and is set to end in less than two weeks. Negotiations on the second phase have been delayed, leaving the fates of dozens of captives up in the air.<\/p>\n

The fragile truce has led to the release of hostages from Gaza in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails \u2014 but there are concerns among the relatives of hostages that there may not be another round of releases.<\/p>\n

Yael Adar, whose son Tamir Adar was killed in the attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz and whose body has not been returned from Gaza, spoke at the Thursday rally. She said that when Tamir\u2019s son heard that bodies would be returned to Israel this week, he asked if his father would be coming home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe told him no, not at this stage. Asaf couldn\u2019t understand why there were stages,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Mr. Netanyahu\u2019s office said has said that six living hostages would be released on Saturday, instead of three as planned, and that four more bodies would be returned next week.<\/p>\n

But relatives are anxious.<\/p>\n

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A poster showing Shiri Bibas, center, who was kidnapped with her husband and young sons on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas released what it said were her remains, but Israel\u2019s military said none of the returned bodies were a match for her.<\/span>Credit…<\/span>Mahmoud Illean\/Associated Press<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Hamas\u2019s failure to return Ms. Bibas raises new questions about whether the next release of hostages and prisoners on Saturday will proceed and the fate of talks on the second phase of the cease-fire deal.<\/p>\n

If negotiations on the second phase fail, roughly 60 hostages, some believed to be dead, would most likely remain in Gaza. And if fighting resumes, those who are alive will be in even graver danger.<\/p>\n

On Monday, a rally in Hostage Square was held to mark the 500th day of captivity for those being held in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Among the speakers was Yeela David, the sister of Evyatar David, who was taken from the Nova music festival during the Oct. 7 attack. \u201cPhase 2 is the last chance to save the lives of dozens,\u201d she said. \u201cIf this deal falls apart and Phase 2 doesn\u2019t begin, it will remain a black stain in the pages of our history.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hostages that have been freed say there is no time to spare.<\/p>\n

Keith Siegel\u2019s wife drove that point home during the Monday rally at Hostage Square. Mr. Siegel was held in Gaza for nearly 500 days, six months of which were spent locked in a small room alone. He was beaten, threatened at gunpoint and reduced by his captors to \u201cnothing,\u201d in the words of his wife, Aviva.<\/p>\n

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Aviva Siegel last year with a photograph of her husband, Keith Siegel, who was released this month. \u201cHe went through 484 days of hell,\u201d she said.<\/span>Credit…<\/span>Hiroko Masuike\/The New York Times<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

He ate only moldy pita bread, lost 65 pounds and some days thought he would not survive, Ms. Siegel said, describing details of her husband\u2019s experience for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe went through 484 days of hell no human being should ever have to experience,\u201d said Ms. Siegel, who was also taken hostage. She was released during a brief truce in November 2023. \u201cI was in Gaza. I survived. Keith survived. Others will not,\u201d Ms. Siegel warned.<\/p>\n

It was a theme repeated by other former captives, including Iair Horn, 46, who was freed on Saturday along with two other hostages in exchange for 369 Palestinian prisoners.<\/p>\n

He appeared in a video message at the Monday rally, recorded about 48 hours after his return to Israel, to plead for his brother, Eitan Horn, who was still in Gaza and was not slated to be freed in the first phase of the agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was there. I was in Hamas\u2019s tunnels. I experienced it firsthand,\u201d Iair Horn said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m telling you, the hostages don\u2019t have time. They must be brought back now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since his return, he said, people kept asking what he needs. \u201cI answer them, \u2018I need only one thing: Bring back my brother. Bring back my brother and all the hostages.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For Jonathan Dekel-Chen, every day this week has been a mixture of joy and grief. He is celebrating the return of his