Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
Ella Ben Ami, daughter of former hostage Ohad Ben Ami who was released after 491 days in Hamas captivity, said Thursday that her father sometimes behaves as if he's still being held by terrorists. "You see it when he takes half a pita after a meal and when he talks about what's happening there as if he's still there," she told Ynet in an interview.
"He's physically here, but mentally, he's not. Honestly, all the hostages who returned carry the burden of those still there. They're the only ones who truly know what's happening and how it feels," she said.
She also described her father's reaction to Hamas' recent sign of life video featuring hostages Elkana Buhbut and Yosef-Haim Ohana, who were held with him. "It sounds crazy but he was happy to see them, to see they're okay. He misses them so much and talks about them all day."
"Seeing their faces – it's really hard," she added. "Dad is in Germany and the first thing he wanted to do was make noise everywhere, so he posted on Facebook, hoping it would spread. But I don't know… I'm waiting for him to come back so we can talk about it. The video is really, really tough to watch."
live
Sign of life video showing hostages Elkana Buhbut and Yosef-Haim Ohana
Ben-Ami explained that her father traveled to Germany to push for the release of the remaining hostages. "He's trying to make an impact wherever he can and fight for the people he left behind. We have German citizenship so we can meet with high-ranking officials there. He felt it was the right thing to do."
Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: Google Play: https://bit.ly/4eJ37pE | Apple App Store: https://bit.ly/3ZL7iNv
Meanwhile, Nadav Miran, brother of Omri Miran, who remains in Hamas captivity, criticized the government’s handling of the hostages and the ongoing fighting in Gaza. Speaking to Ynet, he said: "Israel decided to go in and fight, but in reality nothing is happening."
"If you truly want to bring the hostages home quickly and if you’ve decided to fight — then fight, with everything that it entails," he said, calling for a more aggressive military approach.
"Israel needs to approach this in a way that actually takes territory from Hamas, not just talk about it. Seizing food warehouses, putting real pressure on them — right now, there's no real pressure. They keep saying they're going back to fighting but all they do is make threats. No major forces are going in, no land is being taken and Hamas isn’t being told, 'You’re not getting them back.'"
Miran argued that Hamas would never agree to a hostage deal without a full ceasefire — and even then, he says he doubts the terror group would release all captives. "They won’t believe Israel will truly stop fighting, so they'll always hold onto hostages, releasing them over years, not days. The goal should be to pressure them until they have no choice but to surrender and return all the hostages at once, not in groups."
"Talk about all of them. Get them all out. Find a final solution that brings every hostage back to Israel, to their families. I don’t understand these partial deals," he concluded.