Hostages families urge Israel to agree to Gaza, Lebanon cease-fire

Families of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza for nearly a year are urging Israel to ensure than any possible cease-fire deal with Hezbollah includes provisions for the war in Gaza.

Gil Dickmann, whose cousin, Carmel Gat, was kidnapped and was one of six Israelis killed in Hamas tunnels in August, said the families of the hostages are feeling forgotten as attention shifts to the northern front.

“We know that these things are connected to each other, the northern part and the southern part, they’re all part of the same large situation in which we are at from October 7th on. And we’re very worried that if we don’t make the right decisions now, we will miss this amazing opportunity to get the hostages out,” Dickmann said on Thursday.

He slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for missing multiple opportunities to free his cousin over the past 11 months and begged him to agree to a cease-fire with both Hezbollah and Hamas that would include provisions for the hostages.

Dickmann’s sister-in-law, Yarden Roman-Gat, was released in the week-long cease-fire deal last November, along with nearly 100 other hostages.

Hamas-led militants abducted some 250 people during their Oct. 7 attack in Israel. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war in Gaza since then.