As Israel and Hamas edge closer to a possible ceasefire-hostage agreement, a small number of families whose loved ones remain captive in Gaza are saying “No” to a deal.
Many members of the Tikva (Hope) Forum fringe group, including settlers in the occupied West Bank, hold right-wing ideologies. They oppose the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel as part of the deal, arguing that a partial release of Israeli hostages from Gaza is unacceptable. Instead, they insist that defeating Hamas through strong military action should be the top priority, and is the best strategy to retrieve hostages.
The Tikva Forum, which says it was founded to bring the hostages home “from a place of strength, faith, national responsibility and concern for the unity and security of all Israelis,” is distinct from the Hostage Families Forum – which represents the majority of the hostage families, and has been leading protests advocating for a ceasefire and hostage deal.
Tzvika Mor, Tikva Forum’s co-founder, believes his son Eitan, who is being held in Gaza, would want him to oppose the deal.
“I know definitely that Eitan wants me to make sure that the State of Israel will be safe,” he said, adding that if his son was not in captivity, he would have been “a soldier in Gaza or Lebanon or Syria.”
The first phase of the deal is expected to see the release of children, women, the sick and the elderly who are held in Gaza for the freeing of hundreds of Palestinians from Israeli jails, some of whom were accused of killing Israelis.
Boaz Miran, who is also part of the Tikva Forum, also opposes the deal. His brother Omri was kidnapped by Hamas-led militants on October 7, 2023 from Kibbutz Nahal Oz in southern Israel, leaving behind his wife, Lishay, their two young daughters. The first phase of the deal is unlikely to see his brother released, given that it prioritizes women, children and the elderly.
Boaz has campaigned against the deal along with other families attached to the Tikva Forum. Members of the group often share views similar to those of Israel’s far-right politicians, who also oppose the deal, such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who threatened to withdraw from Netanyahu’s coalition if a deal is signed, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said a deal would be a “catastrophe.”
Both ministers are settlers with hardline views about Palestinians.
‘Monsters as our neighbors’
Mor, the co-founder for the forum, resides in the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba, near Hebron in the occupied West Bank. His son was kidnapped by Palestinian militants from the Nova Festival on October 7. He said that at least 15 families are part of the forum, but that many prefer to stay out of the limelight.
Miran and other members of the Tikva forum reject the Gaza deal in its current form, saying that hostages should come back in one wave, and that Palestinian “terrorists” should not be freed. “We believe all the captives should be returned in one deal, from a position of strength,” Miran said.
He also believes that the release of Palestinian prisoners would be catastrophic for Israel.
Israel holds at least 10,000 Palestinian prisoners, according to the Commission of Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, including 3,376 people who have been held under administrative detention – a controversial procedure that allows Israeli authorities to hold people indefinitely on security grounds without trial or charge, sometimes based on evidence that isn’t made public. Ninety-five children are currently under administrative detention, according to the Commission of Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society.
The proposed deal is set to be implemented in three phases, the first of which would last 42 days. In the first phase, 33 hostages held by Hamas and its allies since October 7 will be released, including women, children, men over the age of 50 and wounded people. Israel would release “many hundreds” of Palestinian prisoners in exchange, an Israeli official said, including Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis.
Negotiations to reach the second and third phases of a ceasefire agreement – which is intended to end the war – would begin on the 16th day of the implementation of the deal, according to the Israeli official.
Miran said that while he celebrates the release of each hostage, the deal as it stands would mean that the joy of some families would mean sadness for others, adding that “this deal will determine the fate of my brother Omri to rot in the tunnels of Hamas for months or even years to come.”
The Israeli government believes 98 hostages are still being held in Gaza – most of whom were abducted on October 7, 2023, dozens of whom are believed to be dead.
The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has raged for 15 months, turning Gaza into a wasteland and displacing at least 90% of Palestinians since October 2023, according to the United Nations. More than 46,000 people have been killed – mostly women and children, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.