As he stood on a stage in Gaza and was made to read a scripted message reportedly thanking the Hamas fighters who held him hostage, Eli Sharabi did not know that when he returned to Israel, his wife and daughters would not be waiting for him.
(Maayan Toaf/GPO)
They had been killed in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, on the day Sharabi had been taken captive. He reportedly learned the news from relatives who greeted him when he first returned home, nearly 500 days later.
Sharabi was one of three male civilian hostages released by Hamas on Saturday, alongside Ohad Ben-Ami and Or Levy. They all ascended a stage in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah for a choreographed handover ceremony to the Red Cross, which ferried them into Israeli hands. All looked gaunt as they stood on stage and were made to read messages to the crowd.
Sharabi, 51, was not the only one of the three to return home to tragedy. Levy’s wife was also killed on Oct. 7, though it’s unclear whether the 34-year-old, who was kidnapped at the Nova music festival, knew that before being released. A photo circulating after his release showed him embracing their three-year-old son.
Ben-Ami, 56, was also taken captive from Kibbutz Beeri, as was his wife, who was released during a November 2023 ceasefire.
The scene of their release, and their visibly poor health, sparked shock in Israel and among activists for the hostages’ release. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar compared the freed hostages’ appearance to that of Holocaust survivors and cited the scene to deny the existence of famine in Gaza.
“The images that we saw today don’t lie,” he tweeted. “The terrorists and Gazan residents look perfectly fine. The hostages look like Holocaust survivors. They are the only ones that have been starved!”
The New York branch of the Hostages and Families forum, which advocates for the captives, said the images made the case for redoubled efforts to secure the rest of the hostages’ release.
“The images from today’s release were painful to witness,” the group said. “The haunting faces of Ohad, Eli, and Or reveal the unimaginable toll of 491 days in Hamas captivity. These men have endured hell itself. Every moment in captivity is a moment too long. We call on the international community to ensure Phase 2 of the deal moves forward as promised—to reunite brothers, fathers, children, and parents. Lives must be saved now — there is no time to waste.”
The group was referring to the second stage of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal, which is meant to begin on March 2 and during which all remaining living hostages are to be released. A total of 33 hostages — all but eight of them alive — are set to be released during the deal’s first phase, which began on Jan. 19. Hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners have been released in exchange for the freed captives, including 183 in exchange for the three released on Saturday.
Talks are currently underway over whether and how the second stage will take place. In a statement on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he is working to secure the hostages’ release but that he would not accept continued Hamas control of Gaza. He suggested that Saturday’s images pressed the case for the terror group’s defeat.
“We will do everything to return all of our hostages,” he said. “We will see to their safety. This is the directive that I gave to the delegation — say this to the mediators and demand it. But beyond this, President Trump agrees with me completely: We will do everything to return all of the hostages, but Hamas will not be there.”
But on Monday, Hamas announced that it will delay its next release of Israeli hostages, claiming that Israel has violated the ceasefire agreement.
The announcement came as Trump doubled down on his plan for Gaza to be permanently depopulated and for the US to take control of the territory.
“We’ll build safe communities a little bit away from where they are, where all of this danger is,” he said in a recent interview on Fox News. “In the meantime, I would own this.”
He added that Palestinians would not have a right to return to Gaza. “No, they wouldn’t, because they’re going to have much better housing,” he said. “I’m talking about building a permanent place for them.”
The next release is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 15, and there have been snags in the agreement in the past that have later been resolved. The first phase of the agreement began Jan. 19 and is meant to last until March 2. Seventeen hostages are slated to be released during the remainder of the ceasefire’s first phase, eight of whom are confirmed to be dead.
Hamas claimed that Israel violated the truce by delaying the return of Palestinians to their homes, delaying the entry of aid into the territory and firing on residents. It has demanded that Israel “compensate” for the alleged violations.
In response, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the Israeli military to “prepare at the highest level of alert.” The statements came after Israel completed its withdrawal from a key portion of the territory, the Netzarim corridor, a strip of land bisecting Gaza that the Israeli military has held for much of the war.
Hamas’ statement adds more instability to an already tenuous truce. The current first phase of the ceasefire was meant to lead to a second stage in which Israel withdrew all of its troops from Gaza in exchange for Hamas releasing all living hostages. But several factors are posing obstacles to that path.
While negotiations are underway over the second phase, their scope is unclear. In addition, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has said that he will not agree to the second phase. A break with Smotrich could doom Netanyahu’s government.
Debates over the hostages, and how to release them, have also escalated since Saturday, as Netanyahu’s critics in Israel have called on him to redouble efforts to free hostages held in atrocious conditions, while he and his allies have insisted on a future for Gaza without Hamas rule. Netanyahu has endorsed Trump’s plan.
In response to the Hamas statement, Trump has issued a new threat designed to keep the ceasefire going. “If all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday at 12 o’clock — I think it’s an appropriate time — I would say, cancel it and all bets are off and let hell break out,” Trump told reporters in Washington, DC, on Monday. He also threatened to “withhold aid” from Egypt and Jordan if they don’t agree to take in Gaza Palestinians.
He emphasized that he was unsatisfied with the slow pace of hostage releases so far, which Israel and Hamas agreed to. “I’d say they ought to be returned by 12 o’clock on Saturday, and if they’re not returned — all of them, not in dribs and drabs, not two and one and three and four and two,” Trump said. “Saturday at 12 o’clock, and after that, I would say, all hell is going to break out.”
