KIRYAT GAT, Israel (AP) — Ilana Gritzewsky is preventing a battle in opposition to time to avoid wasting her boyfriend from Hamas captivity.
Whereas there seems to be progress towards a deal to free the remaining captives in phases, Matan Zangauker would seemingly not be launched within the first stage since he’s a younger man. Gritzewsky is terrified a deal may break down or he may die in captivity earlier than he’s freed.
Gritzewsky is aware of first-hand the perils dealing with her boyfriend, who turned 25 on Wednesday. She was kidnapped and held hostage for 55 days earlier than being launched throughout the one earlier ceasefire deal a 12 months in the past.
“All the hostages need to get out,” stated Gritzewsky. “If we don’t release all of the hostages — all the hostages in captivity — they will be dead.”
Many relations of individuals held in Gaza discover no reprieve in experiences that negotiations towards a deal are progressing. The renewed ceasefire talks are simply the most recent twist in what’s been greater than 14 months of anguish, despair and uncertainty about their family members’ fates. Nonetheless, they dedicate themselves to lobbying for his or her family members’ freedom, even because the world strikes on to different crises.
“I gave my promise to my friends from the kibbutz in the tunnels before I went home. I told them I will do everything, everything I have to, to take them out from that hell. And I ask all the time: Am I doing everything I can?” stated Gritzewsky, 31.
Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 folks and abducting roughly 250, dragging them into Gaza. The assault sparked an Israeli invasion of Gaza. Greater than 45,000 folks have been killed within the ongoing warfare, in accordance with native well being authorities, who say greater than half are ladies and youngsters however don’t distinguish between civilians and militants of their depend.
About 100 hostages had been freed in a short truce in November 2023, whereas others have been rescued or their our bodies have been retrieved by the Israeli army. Round one other 100 haven’t been launched, although Israel believes not less than a 3rd of them are lifeless.
Within the deal beneath dialogue, principally ladies and older persons are anticipated to be freed within the first six-to-eight-week part, however many households of hostages are lobbying for all the hostages to be freed directly.
Zangauker and Gritzewsky had been kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, the place they lived collectively, after which held individually in Gaza. Simply earlier than her launch from a tunnel beneath Gaza, Gritzewsky heard from different hostages that Zangauker was close by. She begged to have the ability to see him however was not allowed.
Two weeks in the past, Hamas launched a video of Zangauker, filmed beneath duress, the place he described tough circumstances in Gaza and pleaded with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike a deal to finish the warfare.
“He spoke quietly, but his eyes were screaming for help,” Gritzewsky stated of the footage.
Whereas it was a reduction to see Zangauker, the video is not any assure that he’s nonetheless alive at the moment, she stated. “I don’t want a photo. I don’t want a video. I want him here. I want all the hostages here,” she stated.
The video introduced again a number of the worst recollections of her captivity: the nighttime interrogations, the filthy circumstances, the dearth of medical assist for the accidents she suffered in the course of the kidnapping. Gritzewsky’s pelvis and jaw had been damaged and she or he has burns on her legs. She suffered listening to loss in a single ear.
“What they are going through is physically, psychologically, and emotionally torture, day and night,” stated Gritzewsky, sporting a hat that belonged to Zangauker that she rescued from their destroyed residence. “I know the psychology that they use, how you don’t have water, how you don’t have food, how you don’t see the light, you don’t know what day or hour it is.”
Gritzewsky stated she hates being in entrance of the cameras, telling her story time and again, reliving the worst days of her life, in a determined try to boost consciousness of the plight of the hostages and convey her boyfriend residence.
Nonetheless, Gritzewsky has been a continuing presence at protests and demonstrations throughout the nation together with Zangauker’s mom, who has emerged as one of the vital vocal activists for the hostages.
Einav Zangauker, who used to assist Netanyahu, has virulently opposed his dealing with of the warfare and is livid on the authorities for not but reaching a ceasefire deal, accusing it of forsaking the hostages in its bid to topple Hamas.
Netanyahu has stated that the warfare should proceed till Hamas is crushed and unable to rearm, however critics level out that Israel has already assassinated the highest management and destroyed giant swaths of Gaza.
Einav Zangauker, a single mom, has been relentless in her campaign, attending demonstrations day by day, talking repeatedly to each main Israeli media outlet, and even climbing right into a cage that was hoisted excessive above a protest to hammer residence the concept of her son in captivity.
She has demanded that politicians pursue a ceasefire that can launch all of the hostages directly.
“If my son returns in a body bag or body parts, I will not put you on trial, I will take the law into my own hands!” she screamed at lawmakers throughout a parliamentary committee assembly Monday.
Whereas Gritzewsky is not captive in Gaza, she stated she will’t start to heal till the hostages, together with her boyfriend, come residence.
“Since Oct. 7, it’s like time stopped,” she stated. “You see the world running in front of your eyes, but your life is crushed like little pieces of dust.”