Hostage families in plea for deal: ‘Any delay in the negotiations could cost lives’

A day after an Israeli negotiating team returned from Qatar for consultations, the relatives of a number of hostages give statements in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, pleading for an agreement to be made with Hamas as fast as possible.

Shir Siegel, whose father Keith Siegel was taken hostage on October 7 from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, warns that there is no time to lose as the captives face a second winter in dire conditions.

“From the stories of my mother and the other hostages who come back, and also according to all professionals, it is absolutely clear that the abductees do not have time,” she says. “We must return them home before the harsh winter in the tunnels.”

“Our future as a nation depends on the decisions taken now. Any delay, hesitation or postponement in the negotiations could cost lives,” she says.

Lishay Miran, the wife of abductee Omri Miran, says that any hostage deal must include everyone held captive in Gaza.

“This terrible journey we are on must end. Everyone must return so that the period of healing can begin,” she says.

“Over a year has passed since the last deal and now is the time for a new one that includes everyone and in which it is clear when and how the final hostage will return,” she says.

There is concern among hostages’ families that any men not released in the first stage of a potential truce could remain held for a further prolonged period, as many fear the deal will collapse before further phases are reached.

The press conference is held the day after a mid-level Israeli negotiating team that had been in Qatar for several days working on a potential hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas returned to Israel for “internal deliberations in Israel regarding the continuation of negotiations.”