For the first time in two years, hostage families may finally breathe again

It’s impossible to describe the mix of relief and heartbreak we feel – relief they may at last come home, and heartbreak that for some, it will be for burial.

Their families deserve to grieve properly, and those still alive must be brought back urgently for medical care and the embrace of their loved ones.

Let us be clear: they should never have been taken hostage in the first place. They should never have been treated as bargaining chips, traded for concessions to their brutal captors.

How many more could have been saved had the international community stood firmly with them from the outset and demanded, with one voice, their unconditional release?

My cousin Tsachi was murdered by his terrorist captors. Let no one be fooled by Hamas’s propagandists – including their apologists on our streets and campuses here in the UK – who will now try to spin this as a victory for their so-called “resistance.”

They will attempt to justify it as some perverse vindication of the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, which also claimed victims from dozens of countries, including sixteen Britons.

Among those now being returned are Avinatan Or, the son of a British mother, and the murdered Yossi Sharabi, whose British relatives have fought for two years to bring him home for burial. It is shameful how few in the UK even know the names of the British victims and hostages.

And then there’s Omri Miran, my cousin Tsachi’s neighbour, who was taken with him. His two young daughters have kissed his hostage poster goodnight every night. I spoke with his family last night – there are no words for the joy and anticipation they are feeling. They won’t truly believe it until Omri is back in their arms, reunited with those who love him most.

I would be lying if I said today wasn’t bittersweet for my family. We couldn’t bring my dear cousin Tsachi home alive. We buried him next to his firstborn daughter, Ma’ayan, who was murdered two years ago on that horrific day of infamy – just days after her 18th birthday. We have endured the kind of loss no human being should ever have to face.

But the hostage families have become part of our extended family – their joy is our joy, and their pain is our pain. We have fought together for all the hostages.

They have led with courage, forged unbreakable bonds, and shone like beacons of humanity in the darkest of times. They are the triumph of the human spirit.

For the first time in just over two years, all hostage families may finally be able to breathe again. Some will now begin mourning their dead and facing the long road of trauma and grief. I know what that feels like and how hard that road will be.

Yet easing that burden will be the knowledge that some of those we fought for – whose loved ones we have come to know and love – have survived 730 days of nightmarish captivity and miraculously made it home alive. That will nourish and comfort our broken hearts.

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Adam Ma’anit is A British-Israeli living in Brighton. He is Communications Manager for the Board of Deputies of British Jews and has campaigned for the hostages taken from Israel including his cousin Tsachi Idan who was murdered in captivity.

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