‘I want to know if they’re coming back’: Families of hostages face agonizing wait for deal

Yifat Zailer shows photos of her cousin, Shiri Bibas, center, her husband Yarden, left, and their sons Ariel, top right, and Kfir, who are being held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as she poses for a portrait at home in Herzliya, Israel, January 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Yifat Zailer shows photos of her cousin, Shiri Bibas, center, her husband Yarden, left, and their sons Ariel, top right, and Kfir, who are being held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as she poses for a portrait at home in Herzliya, Israel, January 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

With a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas tantalizingly close, families of hostages in the Gaza Strip are afraid to get their hopes up and are agonizing over the unknown.

“These days are horrible for us,” Yafit Zailer says, breaking down into sobs over the thought of her relatives — Shiri and Yarden Bibas and their two small children, Ariel and Kfir — being released after 15 months of captivity.

“I want to know already if they’re coming back,” Zailer says. “I want to know already if they’re OK or not. I want to hold my cousin in my arms and celebrate the biggest celebration.”

Shiri and Yarden Bibas and their two red-haired sons, 5-year-old Ariel and Kfir — who will turn two on Saturday — were among the 251 hostages dragged into Gaza by the Hamas terror group during the October 7, 2023, invasion and massacre in southern Israel, in which some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed.

Kfir, who was then 9 months old, was the youngest to be taken captive. The infant with red hair and a toothless smile, who has been in captivity for almost two-thirds of his life, has become a symbol across Israel for the helplessness and anger over the hostages’ plight.

Shiri, Ariel and Kfir were supposed to be released with other women and children during a ceasefire in November 2023, but it fell apart after a week.

All four members of the family were on a list obtained by The Associated Press that named 33 hostages who could be released in the initial six-week phase of the latest draft agreement.

“I want to tell all the parties involved in the negotiations, it’s time to end this,” Zailer says, tears streaming down her face. “It’s time to bring home our people, it’s time to end this war.”

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