Family photoBritish families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas are reacting with cautious optimism to a ceasefire agreement to end the 15-month war in Gaza.
US President Joe Biden confirmed that the 94 hostages held by Hamas – 34 of whom are believed to have died – would be released in phases under the deal.
The daughter of 84-year-old hostage Oded Lifschitz told the BBC she hoped her father was still alive.
“Miracles do happen,” Sharon Lifshitz said from her east London home. The family of another hostage, Eli Sharabi, said they hoped he would be released in the first phase of the deal, which would see the exchange of 33 hostages held in Israeli prisons.
Her brother-in-law Stephen Bursley said: “I thought a lot about how I would feel at the time but now this is happening I don’t know what to feel.
Mr Bursley’s sister Leanne, a British citizen, and his teenage nieces Noya and Yahel were killed in a Hamas attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken hostage. .
Israel responded by launching a massive military operation to destroy Hamas. Its campaign has killed more than 46,700 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, displacing much of its 2.3 million population and causing widespread destruction.
Qatari and US mediators said that after months of negotiations, a ceasefire agreement had been reached and was due to take effect on Sunday.
Mr Brisley, from Bridgend, South Wales, told the BBC he was wary of his brother-in-law’s release because of fears of a possible backlash.
“It’s the best news we’ve ever had but you never know the parties involved and the weeks we still have to wait are a bloody long time.”
Sharon Lifshitz told the BBC that her father, Oded, had been in prison all this time, while her mother, Yoshiod, was released in October 2023. The family does not know if their father is still alive.
“I know the chances are slim for my father. He’s an old man, but miracles do happen,” she told the BBC.
“My mother came back, and one way or another, we’ll know. We’ll know if she’s still with us, if we can take care of her. We’ll know… My father didn’t deserve this.”
He hailed the cease-fire agreement as “a bit of sanity” after all.
But he warned that “more graves are to come and people are traumatized to come back but we will take care of them and show them the light again”.
“Maybe this is the beginning of something better. It will be wonderful to see mothers hugging their children and children hugging their fathers and we will know what we are grieving for.”
The family of Emily Damari, a British Israeli national, is among those who have campaigned tirelessly for her release.
Her mother Mindy told the BBC last month that she worries every second for her daughter, a Tottenham Hotspur fan who was taken from her home by Hamas gunmen.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday called the deal “long overdue news” that the Israeli and Palestinian people have been eagerly awaiting.
“The hostages, who were brutally forced from their homes that day and held in unimaginable conditions ever since, can now finally return to their families,” he said.
“But we must also use this moment to pay tribute to those who will not make it home – including those Britons who were murdered by Hamas. We will continue to mourn and remember them.”
Foreign Secretary David Lemmy called the ceasefire “a moment of hope after more than a year of agony”.
“For the hostages and their loved ones, including British nationals Emily Damari, and Elie Sharabi, Oded Lifshitz and Avenatan, this has been an unbearable shock.
“For the people of Gaza, many of whom have lost lives, homes or loved ones, this has been a living nightmare.”