A truce in Gaza and the exchange of hostages for Palestinian inmates have been agreed upon by Israel and Hamas, which might signal the end of the 15-month conflict.
An Israeli hostage’s Houston relative has responded in an optimistic but worried manner.
The relative of Israeli national Eitan Avraham Mor, who was abducted on October 7, 2023, after an attack on Israel that left almost 1,200 people dead and 240 hostages in the hands of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, is Alan Kellerman of Southwest Houston.
Women, children, and the elderly make up the first 33 captives anticipated to be freed.
“My cousin, being a 24-year-old male, will probably not be released anytime soon, because he will be among the last people to be released, whenever that is,” Kellerman stated.
Since the beginning of the war, Kellerman has kept a careful eye on the situation in Israel. He feels conflicted about the agreement.
“On the one hand, we all have tremendous compassion for these families and the hostages and want them to be home safely again,” he stated. “On the other hand, there’s also this feeling of, what is the cost and the price of getting these hostages, and does it mean that we’re releasing people who want to harm Israel again, and are we setting ourselves up for more pain and more sorrow and more loss by releasing so many people who are committed to the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people?”
According to Kellerman, Eitan’s parents are eager for him to be freed but share similar worries about who else Israel might free. In return for Hamas releasing the remaining 100 captives, including the bodies of several who have perished in captivity, Israel is anticipated to release over 1,000 Palestinians who are being detained.
Before Eitan was held hostage, his parents “actually had a conversation with their son, a theoretical conversation that had nothing to do with the events of October 7,” according to Kellerman. If he were ever held hostage, (Eitan) made it plain to them that he did not want his release to be negotiated if it meant that terrorists would be free to kill others.”
According to Kellerman, Eitan’s survival was last verified ten months ago.
Hamas’ cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, which killed some 1,200 people in Israel and took 250 more hostage, set off the conflict. According to local health professionals, who do not distinguish between civilians and terrorists, Israel’s intense attack in response has killed around 46,000 Palestinians, with women and children accounting for more than half of the dead.
In November 2023, a week-long truce in Gaza resulted in the release of over 100 hostages.
This latest agreement is the result of months of informal negotiations between the bitter rivals, which were mediated by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar. Following more than a year of fighting connected to the war in Gaza, Israel and the Lebanese militant organization Hezbolla agreed to a truce in November.
The three-phase ceasefire agreement will let hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans to return to what is left of their homes and guarantees the release of hundreds of Palestinian inmates in Israel and dozens of hostages held by militants in Gaza. According to negotiators, it would also pour much-needed humanitarian relief into a region devastated by 15 months of conflict.
This report was contributed to by the Associated Press.
