PERSONAL: "So close, yet so far": families long for full release of loved ones as ceasefire talks progress

Record ID: 1891711

  • Title: PERSONAL: "So close, yet so far": families long for full release of loved ones as ceasefire talks progress
  • Date: 17th December 2024
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE)(English) KIBBUTZ NIR OZ’S RESIDENT, SON OF 84-YEAR-OLD ODED LIFSHITZ WHO IS STILL IN CAPTIVITY, YZHAR LIFSHITZ, SAYING: “We have the rumours of a new deal so I hope we are going to seal the deal and my father is 84 years old, too much old. So if someone can do something to release my father, I don't care if you are Jew, Christian or Muslim. To hold my father as an old man, this is something, not humanity.” VARIOUS OF LIFSHITZ SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE)(English) KIBBUTZ NIR OZ’S RESIDENT, SON OF 84-YEAR-OLD ODED LIFSHITZ WHO IS STILL IN CAPTIVITY, YZHAR LIFSHITZ, SAYING: “So close, but yet so far. I feel, you know, like in the lottery. I got the 4 number but still miss the number 5..Yes, but the rumours say that everybody wants it that everybody wants the deal. But the price now, the negotiation about the price. But till they are going to seal the deal, there is no deal. So that's it.” PHOTO OF 84-YEAR-OLD ODED LIFSHITZ ON NECKLACE (SOUNDBITE)(English) KIBBUTZ NIR OZ’S RESIDENT, SON OF 84-YEAR-OLD ODED LIFSHITZ WHO IS STILL IN CAPTIVITY, YZHAR LIFSHITZ, SAYING: “I was in that situation for 4 times. You know, it’s like a sin that goes up and down. Right now the rumours say it's going to be part of a full deal. So I hope it's going to be a big part. And, I feel, you know, when you don't have any other options, you should take whatever you have. Either you can deny it but as you see from the 54 days till now, we have no deal. So you look for the best of the best and you don't have nothing. The enemy of the best of the best is okay. So it's not okay but that's what we have. So I believe we have to take it.” VARIOUS OF LIFSHITZ HOLDING STAR OF DAVID NECKLACE
  • Embargoed: 31st December 2024 14:19
  • Keywords: Ceasefire Deal Families Hostage Israel Palestnians Progress Talks
  • Location: GANEI TIKVA AND KARMEI YOSEF, ISRAEL
  • City: GANEI TIKVA AND KARMEI YOSEF, ISRAEL
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East
  • Reuters ID: LVA008772417122024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: In an apartment in Ganei Tikva, 41-year-old Michael Levy ponders over a video of his younger brother being abducted by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
    The harrowing day in October marked the beginning of a nightmare for the Levy family. The Levy brothers are three; Michael is the eldest, and Or Levy, the youngest, who was abducted and taken to Gaza from the Nova Music Festival where his wife was murdered by Hamas.
    Or's son, Almog Levy, celebrated his third birthday a few months ago. With his mother gone, the uncertainty of when his father can return home is a heartbreaking question that plagues the entire family. Like all families of the 100 hostages in Gaza, Michael is desperate for Or to return home.
    "We should have a deal right now and bring them all back," Levy said.
    Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz recently expressed optimism for a new deal that could secure the return of all hostages, including U.S. citizens.
    However, a Western diplomat in the region said a deal was taking shape, but it would likely be limited in scope, involving the release of only a few hostages and a short pause in hostilities.
    "So close but yet so far," said 59-year-old Yzhar Lifshitz, a resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz, speaking to Reuters in his backyard in Karmei Yosef.
    Lifshitz's parents were among the founders of Nir Oz Kibbutz, were peace activists regularly transported patients from Gaza to receive medical treatment in hospitals across Israel. Both were taken captive on October 7. His mother, Yocheved Lifshitz was released from Gaza in November 2023, but his father, Oded Lifshitz, 84, remains in captivity.
    Lifshitz wears a necklace bearing his father's picture along with a mini sculpture of yellow cactus, a plant abundant in the gardens of his Nir Oz home. He hopes his father will return in the upcoming deal.
    Efforts by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States to reach a truce in Gaza and secure the release of hostages have gained momentum in recent weeks, but a breakthrough has yet to materialise.
    The three countries have been leading rounds of talks for over a year, attempting to broker an end to the 14-month-long war in Gaza. Previous rounds of talks have stalled, mainly due to disagreements over Israel's future military presence in Gaza, a deal-breaker even after Hamas accepted a version of the proposal that U.S. President Biden introduced in May.
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on his way to Cairo on Tuesday (December 17) for talks on a ceasefire in Gaza, sources briefed on the meetings said. The sources said a Gaza ceasefire deal is expected to be signed in coming days.
    (Production: Joyce Zhou, Michal Yaakov Itzhaki)
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