Hostages Forum reaches out to mediators to salvage Gaza ceasefire deal: ‘Time is of the essence’

10 February 2025, 7:00 pm

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The 17 hostages slated to be returned in phase one of the Gaza ceasefire deal as of February 8, 2025 after the first five rounds saw 16 captives freed. Row 1 (L-R): Ariel Bibas, Kfir Bibas, Shiri Bibas, Sasha Troufanov; Row 2: Shlomo Mantzur, Ohad Yahalomi, Oded Lifshitz, Tsahi Idan; Row 3: Hisham al-Sayed, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Iair Horn, Omer Wenkert; Row 4: Itzik Elgarat, Eliya Cohen, Avera Mengistu, Tal Shoham, Omer Shem Tov. (All photos courtesy)

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum says it has reached out to mediating countries to help save the Gaza ceasefire deal, shortly after Hamas announced that it was postponing the hostage release slated for Saturday over alleged Israeli violations.

“We stand with the Israeli government and encourage maintaining the conditions that will ensure the successful continuation of the agreement, leading to the safe return of our 76 brothers and sisters,” the forum says in a statement.

The families say that testimonies from hostages released over the initial stage of the Gaza deal, “as well as the shocking conditions of the hostages released last Saturday, leaves no room for doubt — time is of the essence, and all hostages must be urgently rescued from this horrific situation.”

Doctors have said that three hostages abducted during the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack who were released over the weekend — Eli Sharabi, 52, Or Levy, 34, and Ohad Ben Ami, 56 — came back severely malnourished and suffering health issues including heart disorders and infections.

Israeli captives, from left to the right, Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy, who have been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2023, onstage before being handed over to the Red Cross in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

With five rounds of hostage-prisoner releases completed in the ongoing Gaza ceasefire deal as of Saturday, there are 17 Israeli hostages still supposed to be set free in the first phase, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners.

As of yesterday, 73 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.