Relatives of 240 hostages say it is like ‘Russian roulette’ waiting to hear who will come out

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The families of hostages held in Gaza have said they are living in a “nightmare” as they endure an agonising wait to see if their loves ones are among those freed.

Israel and Hamas have agreed a deal for the release of 50 women and children in return for 150 Palestinian women and children to be freed from Israeli jails during a four-day ceasefire.

The relatives of some of the 240 hostages in Gaza have said they are grappling with feeling both optimistic about the deal, and fearful that their loved ones may be left behind. The families said they were in the dark about who would be released and when.

Keren Schem said she feared the deal might collapse but that she was praying for the release of her daughter, Mia Schem, 21, who was abducted from the Supernova music festival.

“It’s like Russian roulette. We don’t know who’s going to come out,” Schem, 51, said. “They’re talking about children and their mothers so I don’t think that Mia will come out today or tomorrow or even the day after. But I’m praying that she will because nobody really knows.”

Mia, a French-Israeli tattoo artist, appeared to be injured in the hostage video released by Hamas on 17 October. Her mother said her daughter needs to be released urgently so she can receive medical treatment.

“I don’t know where she is, if she’s alive, and in what condition she’s in, if she eats, if she sleeps, if they’re hurting her. It’s so terrible,” she said.

Itay Raviv, who has three generations of his family being held hostage, said he was wrestling with “a mixture of feelings”. His aunt and uncle, Ruti and Abraham Munder, both 78, were abducted from the Nir Oz kibbutz along with their daughter, Keren, and her son, Ohad, who turned nine in captivity. Keren’s brother, Roee Munder, 50, was among the 1,200 people killed after Hamas stormed southern Israeli towns and kibbutzim on 7 October.

“We’re in an ongoing nightmare,” Raviv said. “We feel both excited, but still very nervous and scared because nothing is promised and we don’t know who is going to be released, if any, because we cannot trust Hamas. We must remember that, according to what is being reported, it’s only going to be women and children, and I have some other family members, my uncle and aunt, in Hamas’ hands as well.”

He said the family had not been told if any of the four captives would be released and that it was “all assumptions at the moment”.

Raviv, a 27-year-old CEO of a non-profit organisation, said the family was preparing for a memorial service for Roee on Wednesday afternoon, as they waited for news about the hostages. “We’re going there without his parents, without his sister, without his nephew, and this is the same way the funeral was, which is just another sad thing that happens in our reality,” he said.

Sharone Lifschitz, whose 85-year-old mother Yocheved Lifshitz was released by Hamas after 16 days in captivity, said it was “devastating” that her father, Oded, 83, who is still hostage, would unlikely to be among those released in the first stages of the deal.

The first hostage release is expected on Thursday morning, and the total number of hostages freed could rise. The Israeli government has said the ceasefire would be extended by a day for every 10 additional hostages released, but it is unclear who that would include.

“We are very anxious in terms of going forward. When will it be our turn? It’s just really hard to survive emotionally. It’s the most horrific extension of a position that was impossible to begin with,” Lifschitz said. “We are in the hands of a terrorist organisation that is doing everything to maximise our pain and the suffering.”

Lifschitz, a London-based artist and academic, added that she believed her father, a veteran journalist and peace activist from Nir Oz, would think it was right that children were being released before him.

“If there is a queue for the way out, he and quite a few other members will be fighting to be at the end of the queue and give their place ahead. That’s what I feel,” she said.

She said her mother was also in agreement. “She thinks very similar to me, that we have to return the children that there is nothing else to it.”

The British niece of Ditza Heiman, 84, a retired social worker and widow taken from Nir Oz, said they are “desperate for good news”. The last time anyone heard from the mother-of-four was at around 4pm on 7 October when a Hamas fighter answered her phone.

Her niece, who did not want to be named, said: “It’s agonising. She’s 84 so she could be eligible for this deal but we don’t know, none of the loved ones do. Every family’s suffering that can be reduced is a good thing, but we don’t know whether it will be us.”