JERUSALEM — Mourners in Israel on Friday were burying the remains of one of the final hostages released in the first phase of the ceasefire between Hamas terrorists and Israel, as negotiators discussed a second phase that could end the war in Gaza and see the remaining living captives returned home.
The funeral procession for Tsachi Idan, an avid soccer fan who was 49 when he was abducted by Hamas terrorists, began at a Tel Aviv football stadium en route to the cemetery where he was to be buried in a private ceremony.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Idan, taken from Kibbutz Nahal Oz during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attack that sparked the war in Gaza, was killed in captivity.
His body was one of four released by Hamas early Thursday in exchange for over 600 Palestinian prisoners, the last planned swap of the ceasefire’s first phase, which began in January.
Idan was the only one of his family taken to Gaza. His eldest daughter, Maayan, was killed as terrorists shot through the door of their saferoom. Hamas terrorists broadcast themselves on Facebook live holding the Idan family hostage in their home, as his two younger children pleaded with the terrorists to let them go.
“My brother is the real hero. He held on,” Idan’s sister, Noam Idan ben Ezra, said in an interview on Israeli radio Friday. She said Idan had been “a pace away” from being released during a brief ceasefire in November 2023, when more than 100 of the 251 people abducted on Oct. 7, 2023, were released.
Concern for remaining hostages
The first phase of the ceasefire deal set to end Saturday.
According to Israel, 32 of the 59 hostages still in Gaza are dead, and there has been growing concern about the welfare of an unknown number who are still alive, particularly after three hostages released Feb. 8 appeared emaciated.
One of the three, Eli Sharabi, said in an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 Friday that he and other hostages had been held in iron chains, starved and sometimes beaten or humiliated.
“During the first three days, my hands are tied behind my back, my legs are tied, with ropes that tear into your flesh, and a bit of food, a bit of water during the day,” he said, in one of the first interviews by a hostage released under the current deal. “I remember not being able to fall asleep because of the pain, the ropes are already digging into your flesh, and every movement makes you want to scream.”
Sharabi found out after his release that his wife and daughters had been killed during the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack.
The next phase of the ceasefire
Under the terms of the truce Israel and Hamas agreed to, Phase 2 of the ceasefire is to involve negotiations on ending the war. That includes the return of all remaining living hostages and the withdrawal of all Israeli troops from the Palestinian territory. The return of the bodies of the remaining deceased hostages would occur in Phase 3.
Hamas said in a statement released Friday that it “reaffirms its full commitment to implementing all terms of the agreement in all its stages and details.” It called on the international community to pressure Israel to “immediately proceed to the second phase without any delay or evasion.”
Officials from Israel, Qatar and the United States have started “intensive discussions” on the ceasefire’s second phase in Cairo, Egypt’s state information service said Thursday. Netanyahu’s office confirmed he had sent a delegation to Cairo. Israel has reportedly been seeking an extension of the first phase to secure the release of additional hostages.
Israel’s negotiators will return home Friday night, said an Israeli official, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks. Negotiations are set to continue Saturday, the official said. But it was not clear if the Israeli team would travel back to Cairo to attend them.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that the coming days are “critical,” and urged Israel and Hamas to fulfill their commitments.
The first phase of the ceasefire saw 33 hostages, including eight bodies, released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Netanyahu has vowed to return all the hostages and destroy the military and governing capabilities of Hamas, which remains in control of Gaza. The Trump administration has endorsed both goals.
The ceasefire, brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, ended 15 months of war that erupted after the 2023 Hamas-led terrrorist attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people.
Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, which doesn’t differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths.
Associated Press writer Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv contributed.
