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Man's grandfather remains hostage in Israel war
FOX 26 Reporter Natalie Hee has more after speaking with family members.
HOUSTON - Israel and Hamas have reached a deal to release dozens of hostages and a temporary cease-fire. This marks the first de-escalation efforts since the war began last month.
Starting Friday, Israel and Hamas will begin a temporary truce in which Hamas has agreed to release 50 civilian hostages.
"The American administration and especially President Biden had a crucial role in facilitating those negotiations, as well as Egypt and Qatar. They have reached a formula which includes those 50 hostages - children and women for a four-day pause of fighting," said Livia Link-Raviv, Israeli Consul General to the Southwest U.S.
In exchange, Israel will release 150 prisoners who were indicted for their previous involvement in terror activities; a deal the Consul-General says was made with a heavy heart.
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"I can share with you that the number was even more lopsided before we reached this agreement. And that’s always the case. It goes back to the values. Israel values life," Link-Raviv said. "This was a very tough decision. We’re doing it very heavy-heartedly because we understand that those days in the pause of fighting are going to allow Hamas to regroup and to strengthen themselves. So, this is definitely a point of concern but above all, Israel values life. Above all, it was very clear that we needed to get as many hostages as possible back home."
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What Israel-Hamas cease fire means
Israel approved a temporary cease-fire with the Hamas militant group, expecting to bring a halt to fighting. Professor Rick Sindelar with Rice University's Baker Institute joins anchors Anthony Antoine and Rashi Vats to discuss what this means.
"It is a way to build trust between the parties and to make sure in this small first step, at least we can be sure that Hamas is holding his part of the deal and ceasing the fighting, respecting the pause in the fighting for those four days. I can assure you that the Israeli defense forces are able and ready to act as necessary, if the pause in fighting is not held, not respected," Link-Raviv continued.
Link-Raviv also recognized that there are still nearly 200 hostages that are still being held by Hamas.
Hostages like Daniel Lifshitz's grandfather, 83-year-old Oded Lifshitz.
For the last 46 days, Daniel says he has anxiously waited for any news of his grandfather. Oded and his wife, 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz, were violently kidnapped by Hamas from their home on Oct. 7.
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Daniel says his grandmother was released two weeks later after she became ill, but Oded’s whereabouts and current condition remain unknown.
Oded was a former journalist who spent his life advocating for peace and the rights of minorities, according to Daniel.
Last week, Daniel traveled to Houston to raise awareness about the hostages in Gaza.
"This should be something so devastating for the world to think that someone like that is a hostage in Gaza, someone that for all his life, advocated for peace, for the rights of the Palestinians, for the rights of minorities. My grandfather, he was going every week, taking with my grandmother Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to the hospitals in Israel to get chemotherapy, and back to the border," Daniel said.
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Daniel says Oded is a cancer survivor who suffers from lingering lung issues. Oded also takes high blood pressure medication that Daniel worries he's not getting while in captivity.
"I mean, those people can survive, probably for a few weeks. But now it's becoming very difficult, and we start to hear about hostages that are dying in captivity," Daniel said.
As the war continues, Daniel has one special request this holiday season.
"Every table this Thanksgiving, if I can ask to add another chair. Put one red balloon and a picture of a hostage. Make a place for him to come back home as well," Daniel said.
In a statement, a spokesperson with CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said:
"The Biden administration must ensure that today’s important and long overdue development leads to the permanent end of the Israeli government’s genocidal attacks on Gaza, the release of every innocent person wrongfully imprisoned and the resumption of credible negotiations to secure the end of the illegal occupation of Palestine. It is also important to note that the Biden administration should have demanded that Netanyahu take this obvious step of a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange over a month ago. Instead, the White House condemned American Muslims who called for a ceasefire as ‘repugnant,’ thereby enabling the Israeli government to massacre more than 13,000 Palestinians while conducting a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank. Pausing the Israeli government’s war crimes in Gaza for a few days is not enough. It’s long past time for President Biden to listen to the American people, demand a complete ceasefire, and then pursue a just, lasting peace."