On October 7, 2023, Michael Levy received devastating news: Hamas had murdered his sister-in-law and taken his brother hostage in Gaza, leaving Levy’s young nephew without his parents. Now, after nearly 16 months of lobbying for the release of his brother and the rest of the 251 Israeli hostages, Levy is allowing himself to feel for the first time.
His brother, Or, is one of the hostages scheduled for release during phase one of the cease-fire deal, implemented on January 19.
But his brother is slated to return home during the latter end of the 46-day truce, and Levy is concerned Hamas will delay or change the terms of the deals, unraveling the cease-fire. “That’s part of what they do,” Levy told CT. “It’s emotional terrorism.”
Hamas postponed by more than 24 hours its posting of names for phase one—an agonizing wait for family members of hostages. And during the second exchange on January 25, Hamas initially sent home only three of the four Israeli women on its list, causing Israel to push pause on the return of Palestinians to their largely destroyed communities in northern Gaza—evidence of the cease-fire’s fragility.
On Thursday, the third exchange turned chaotic as Palestinian mobs chanting support for Hamas formed around the freed hostages. Hamas freed eight Israeli and Thai hostages—including the missing female hostage—yet the Israeli government announced it would delay the release of 110 Palestinian prisoners until cease-fire mediators could guarantee safe passage for the released hostages. Later in the day, Israel said it received reassurances and released the prisoners.
Another Hamas surprise: Last week, it notified Israel that 8 of the 33 hostages scheduled for a phase one release are dead, complicating the hostages-for-prisoners arrangement which requires Israel to release between 30 and 50 Palestinian security prisoners—some serving life sentences—for each live hostage.
Thus far, Levy has reason to believe his brother is still alive.
This correspondent first spoke with Levy in December 2023 while visiting Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, where thousands gather weekly. His face was somber as he navigated the crowds with a T-shirt and sign displaying his brother’s photo.
Since then, Levy has appeared before 15 governing bodies, including the United Nations and Congress. His primary message: Put more pressure on Qatar, Iran, and Egypt, countries with the ability to force Hamas into concessions. But cease-fire talks repeatedly stalled until recently.
“When Trump came to office and said he is not playing games, we had a deal,” Levy said. “If that would have happened months ago, we could have saved so many lives.”
The cease-fire is also a beacon of hope for Palestinians who have suffered immensely during Israel’s 15-month campaign to eradicate Hamas. The Palestinian civilian death toll is estimated to be in the tens of thousands, with more than 80 percent of the population internally displaced.
But Hamas still wields significant power in Gaza, and that’s not good for Palestinians or Israelis, said Michael Beener, pastor of a Messianic congregation in Sderot, a city less than a mile from Gaza.
“We want our hostages home,” he said. “But from another side, there’s a kind of uncertainty in our city.”
The agreement requires Israel to withdraw its troops to a small corridor bordering Gaza, creating an opportunity for Hamas to regroup and rearm.
Since 2007, Hamas has fired tens of thousands of rockets into the city of 30,000 and proclaimed Sderot the “city of death”—prompting Beener to name his congregation City of Life.
Sderot is frequently dubbed “the bomb shelter capital of the world,” but the city’s safeguards weren’t enough to save some residents from Hamas’s brutal October 7 slaughter—a terrifying experience for the Beener family. “The terrorists were under our window, and we could hear them killing people on the streets,” Beener said.
He wondered how Israel and the international community plan to root out the remaining Hamas strongholds after all the hostages are released. “We pray for the Gazans, and we know that they are people,” Beener said. “But the terrorist system is a problem for everyone.”
