Avidor Schwartzman, 38, was in his home in Kfar Aza on October 7 when militants made their way into the kibbutz in southern .
Schwartzman was locked in his safe room together with his wife, Keren, and their baby until the army rescued them 16 hours later.
“We barely had anything to drink during that time,” he said. “We used all the water we had for food for our baby.”
Shortly after their evacuation, they found out Keren’s parents, Cindy and Igal Flash, were among the 1,200 Israelis who were killed in the attacks. Hamas, which Israel, the , the and others designate a terror organization, also took 240 hostages to the .
“They were both big believers in peace and human rights for all,” Schwartzman told DW.
Since their evacuation from Kfar Aza, Schwartzman and his family have been living in Shefayim, a kibbutz 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) north of Tel Aviv. After spending months in a small hotel room, they will soon move to a 45-square-meter (484-square-foot) mobile home in the kibbutz.
Just recently, Schwartzman returned to Kfar Aza to see what was left of his old home. The walls were full of bullet holes, and the windows and doors were open.
“The feeling I had was that your home, your most personal space, had been violated,” he told DW.
Mixed priorities among Israelis
Six months have now passed since the October 7 attacks and the start of the Israeli military operation in Gaza that followed them. Over 33,000 people in the have been killed since Israel began its retaliatory offensive, according to the enclave’s Hamas-run Health Ministry. Around 130 hostages also remain in captivity after some in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
While most of the Jewish Israeli public supports Israel’s war efforts, opinions are divided on where the country should put its focus now. According to the January monthly index by the Israel Democracy Institute, a think tank based in Jerusalem, 47% of the Jewish Israeli public expressed support for prioritizing the return of the hostages, and 42% said that removing Hamas from power in the Gaza Strip should take precedence.
In a February poll by the Jewish People Policy Institute, 40% of those surveyed said they favor eradicating Hamas compared to 32% who prefer the release of hostages.
There is also debate over what Israel would be willing to do to get them back, particularly when it comes to the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel with “blood on their hands.”
But many Israelis take to the streets to call for the return of the hostages Hamas is holding, and Schwartzman feels this is the only important goal for the country going forward.
“The only decent thing we can do is make sure they’re back home,” he said. “We lost this war on October 7 already.”
Many Israelis share Schwartzman’s stance that bringing the hostages home should be the government’s main objective. In fact, Family members of the hostages have made continuous efforts to keep the plight of the hostages in the public consciousness.
Campaign for the return of hostages continues
One such family member is Michael Levy, whose brother, Or, was among the Israeli hostages in Gaza. Or Levy and his wife, Eynav, were attending the Nova music festival in Re’im that Hamas militants targeted during their attack.
On the morning of the attack, Michael Levy recalls “obsessively” calling nearby hospitals to find out the fate of his brother and sister-in-law. It later surfaced that Or Levy was kidnapped and his wife was killed. The couple’s two-and-a-half-year-old son, Almog, is currently being cared for by his grandparents.
“We know that my brother is alive and that he wasn’t hurt. We have no reason to believe otherwise,” Michael Levy said.
Levy has kept himself busy for the last six months, which is the only way he can cope with the situation since his brother’s kidnapping.
“My approach is to try to keep this on the agenda as much as I can and to put pressure on practically everybody. I have traveled the world, been to nine different countries, spoken to influential people, presidents, foreign ministers, the media. I have met the pope.”
“We’re talking about my little brother who has a two-and-a-half-year-old boy who lost his mother, and my brother is the only parent left. And the world is quiet about it,” he said.
Levy said he misses his brother during the small, daily moments. He described Or as an “annoying genius of the family.”
“We all have siblings, and we usually take it for granted to pick up the phone and talk to them,” Levy said. “My only hope is to be able to pick up the phone and just tell him I love him. That is something I cannot do now, and I regret that I did not do it more.”
Hope for a hostage deal
Levy, along with most families of the hostages, is following the rollercoaster of apparent progress and setbacks in the indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas. He is among many who feel that not enough is being done to release the remaining hostages, about 30 of whom are feared dead.
“They know what they have to do, they know it’s their duty, and they know that nothing Israel will achieve in this war will mean anything to anyone here in Israel without the release of the hostages. The fact that [the hostages] are not back means that we are not doing enough,” Levy told DW.
Gil Dickmann is the cousin of Carmel Gat, another hostage Hamas is holding in Gaza. Since October 7, he has dedicated his life to campaigning for the hostages’ release.
Dickmann, who was supposed to start his studies last October, said that despite many moments of despair, families feel they cannot give up.
“If we hear Carmel is no longer alive and we know we could have done more to save her, we won’t be able to forgive ourselves.”
Dickmann is among the hostages’ family members who have received heavy criticism on social media, mostly from accounts supporting right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the far-right elements of his government coalition. The accounts have alleged that the campaign for the hostages’ release is an attempt to bring down the government and help Hamas.
At the same time, Dickmann noted that he and other family members have received support from the Israeli public, regardless of political affiliation.
“The attacks against us, and me personally, do not represent the majority of Israeli people,” he said.
Dickmann said he hasn’t lost hope that the government can reach a deal without a change in leadership, something that some Israeli protesters have called for in recent weeks.
“Some people have lost belief that this government could bring about a hostage deal. I haven’t, as of today,” he said.
Edited by: Davis VanOpdorp
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