The anxiety of the families of the hostages is at its peak after the announcement of the agreement to release some of them as reflected in a press conference, which they gave after the meeting with Pope Francis this morning in the Vatican.

Among those who spoke was 19-year-old Karina Arief’s sister, Alexandra, who was serving at an Israeli army base near Gaza when she was abducted.

Alexandra says that “every minute, every hour is critical” for the hostages, adding: “Every single one of them has to go home. Not in coffins. They need to come home to tell their stories, to tell the stories of the people who were murdered, so they can be our future.”

This was followed by his father Nimrod Cohen, 19, who, referring to the October 7 invasion of Israel by Hamas, said that “our lives have changed since that day. We don’t have day and night – we are only focused on his and others’ return to Israel.”

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Hers Goldberg-Paulin’s mother, Rachel, 23, of California, said her son hid in a roadside shelter near the Supernova music festival – along with his friends and other attendees – which was attacked. by Hamas fighters.

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“Most were dead, but some of the lucky ones got trapped under the dead bodies and told us what happened,” she said.

“It was 47 days ago that my heart was buried in Gaza,” he adds.

The last to speak was a resident from Kibbutz Be’eri, whose sister Raaya Rotem, 45, and niece, Hila Rotem Shoshani, 13, were taken to Gaza.

He last heard from Raya at 12:05 on October 7, adding that he has not heard from her since then.