In a week and a day it will be two years since 251 men, women and children were abducted to Gaza. Forty-eight remain there — in dark tunnels, far from home and family, in the hands of Hamas terrorists. Their loved ones are pinning their hopes on a meeting set for Monday at 6 p.m.: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will go to the White House to discuss, among other things, a possible deal to free the hostages under President Donald Trump’s 21-point plan. The families’ message is clear: do not return without a deal.
In a direct letter to Trump sent on behalf of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, they wrote: “Dear Mr. President, Our families are suffering through an immense and terrifying ordeal. Your recognition of that fact and your steadfast dedication to returning our family members is something we will never forget. Every day, you remind the world of the need to bring all 48 of our loved ones home and end this war once and for all. All the hostages should have been released right when you came into office, just as you boldly demanded - yet here we are, still fighting for their freedom. We are grateful, and dependent on your strength and the strength and awesome power of the United States of America."
“We are writing today to thank you for your comments and actions at the United Nations General Assembly and to give encouragement and resolve as you continue to work through all the necessary steps to end this war. We are mindful of the extraordinary importance of your meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu on Monday. We learned from you on Friday of the possibility of a deal to finally end this war. We pray that the deal will come to fruition and that this ordeal will soon be coming to an end. Thank you Mr. President. You and you alone have the strength to push this deal to the finish line and we are so grateful to have you in our corner."
They said their hopes grew after Trump’s meeting last week with Arab leaders. ““We know that your focus on the future of Gaza is paramount to ending the war and we commend you for using your diplomatic influence to put those pieces into place. We respectfully ask you to stand firm against any attempts to sabotage the deal you have brought forth. The stakes are too high, and our families have waited too long, for any interference to derail this progress."
“Furthermore, your reminder to all world leaders in your remarks to the General Assembly was incredibly impactful. You stated, 'Instead of getting in to Hamas' ransom demands, those who want peace should be united with one message: RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!'"
“Your dual focus on ending the war and bringing 48 hostages home stands in stark contrast to the expanded war Israelis currently conducting. We want to thank you for boldly sticking to your position to your conviction despite this contrast. We know this will be a focus of Monday’s meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Please, Mr. President, don't stop. We need you. 48 of our loved ones — our fathers, siblings, children — need you. We need our loved ones home.”
'Hope that Trump will leave him no choice'
Vicki Cohen, whose son Nimrod is held hostage, is watching the diplomatic moves closely. She said domestic political pressures could sabotage the deal: “Of course Bibi will try to create obstacles so it won’t happen. We’ve already heard Ben-Gvir’s statements, we’ve seen people from the Yesha Council fly to meet the prime minister to persuade him not to sign. Many forces are working to foil the agreement. I hope Trump forces the deal on him so he has no choice.”
“If there is no deal, we will escalate the struggle,” she warned of the consequences of failed talks. “This country will tremble. There cannot be opposition to a deal that in 48 hours could return all the hostages. It’s crazy that two years have already passed. Their situation there, physically and mentally, is unimaginable. My fear is they will lose hope. I ask the prime minister: do the right thing. Bring everyone back. It is in the interest of Israeli society as a whole.”
Nira Sharabi, wife of slain hostage Yossi Sharabi, who was killed in captivity and whose body is still held in Gaza, said she was stunned that the prime minister did not mention the slain hostages in his U.N. speech on Friday, reading only the names of the living hostages. “I couldn’t believe my eyes or my ears,” Nira says. “I waited to hear him mention the fallen, and he simply moved on. I thought he would return to them later, and he didn’t. It was a painful, irrational, abnormal omission. I am so disappointed, so angry.”
'Netanyahu, don’t you understand there is no time?'
She describes the daily struggle she and her daughters live with: “We wake every morning with the same question: What more can we do that we haven’t already done? Two years of nonstop fighting. But their time is running out. Time of life and time for the fallen. I’m already without expectations. If this deal doesn’t happen, he is forcing us to ask, to go on the path…” She ends with a personal plea to Netanyahu: “You are a family man, a father. How can you not look us in the eye? How don’t you understand there is no time? Why are you waiting?”
'Do not come back without a signed deal'
Last week, on Rosh Hashanah, Sylvia Cunio had two empty seats at her holiday table. Both her sons, David and Ariel, are held hostage. “Holidays are no longer holidays,” she says. “It wasn’t a holiday, it was another dinner. They are missing from every breath. The children grew up together, every evening we would gather, spend time together, drink coffee. That joy disappeared. I dream that it will return.”
“I want David to come back to see his daughters grow up, to see what kind of mother Sharon is, how she copes almost without strength but still manages. I want Arbel (Yehud) to return and see Ariel, after all she’s done to bring him back.”
Sylvia joins the plea that the U.S. president press Netanyahu: “I want Trump to do everything to persuade Netanyahu to reach the deal as quickly as possible. That Netanyahu should not return without a signed agreement. It must happen, all together, in one pulse: life for health and rehabilitation and the fallen for proper burial.”