Families of hostages still held in Gaza called on Israel on Tuesday to leverage the ceasefire with Iran to bring the captives home.
“Now is the time to bring my child home,” Viki Cohen, whose son, Nimrod, is still in Hamas captivity, said on X/Twitter on Tuesday.
Her son is a soldier in the IDF’s Armored Corps who was taken captive from the tank he was fighting in on October 7.
Nimrod Cohen’s family identified him in a Hamas video that was released in March in which Cohen was seen parting with Iair Horn before the latter was released from captivity.
Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is still held hostage, also took to X to call for the hostages to be brought home.
“The 12-day war is over with amazing military achievements and painful costs to the Israeli home front. The 627-day war is turning into a forever war,” Zangauker wrote in the early Tuesday morning post.
“The hostage families are suspended between hope and despair,” she added.
“A general agreement to bring all of the hostages home and end the war is the imperative objective now. This is in Israel’s best interest,” she said.
Her son was taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz, and his family received a sign of life from him in May. In June, Hamas’s military spokesperson, Abu Obeida, said that the IDF was operating in the area where Zangauker was being held and endangering his life.
Expanding the ceasefire to Gaza
Also on Tuesday, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum called to expand the ceasefire to include Gaza.
“We call on the government to engage in urgent negotiations that will bring home all of the hostages and end the war. Those who can achieve a ceasefire with Iran can also end the war in Gaza,” the forum said.
It added that Israel’s achievements in Iran were important, enabling the country to end the war “from a position of strength, with Israel having the upper hand.”
“The 12-day operation in Iran has concluded. Now it’s time to end the 627-day war,” the forum said.
Concluding the operation against Iran without leveraging this success to bring the hostages home “would be a grave failure,” it added.
According to the organization, “The Israeli government has a duty to seize this opportunity with both hands and pursue with full force a comprehensive deal that will return all 50 hostages in one phase and end the war.”
The forum also thanked US President Donald Trump and America for standing with the hostages and with the Israeli people.
The Tikva Forum, which represents some family members of hostages and has pushed for more military pressure as a means to bring home the hostages, also reacted to the ceasefire.
“In Operation Rising Lion, which will be remembered for generations, Israel’s government proved that it knows how to stand strong against powerful forces and political, diplomatic, and military pressure,” the organization said.
“We, the families, demand that the prime minister and the security forces go with this strength and bring us a victory in Gaza as well – a victory that will bring back our loved ones who are held hostage,” it said.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.