Son of hostage Oded Lifshitz says there is ‘grave fear’ for his elderly father’s life

Yizhar Lifshitz, the son of hostage Oded Lifshitz and former hostage Yocheved Lifshitz, tells the Ynet news outlet that there is “grave fear” for his 84-year-old father’s life, after more than 15 months in Hamas captivity.

Yesterday, Israel said that a Hamas list showed eight of the 26 hostages still to be freed in the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal are dead.

While the list did not provide the status of each individual, and instead showed only how many of the 26 hostages are alive, officials have said that the Hamas document matched Israel’s existing information.

Yizhar says his mother Yocheved heard the updates regarding the number of living hostages “and understood that the chances of him being alive are slim.”

He says that the last time there was a sign of life from Oded was on the 25th day of his father’s now 480-day captivity.

He urges Israel to continue to implement the hostage-ceasefire deal in full, rather than abandon it before the final phase.