The daughter of an Israeli hostage, whose body was recovered from Gaza on Monday night, has told Sky News she hopes “the necessary compromises” will be made so the opportunity for a ceasefire in Gaza isn’t lost.
Noam Peri, speaking hours after her father was returned, said she was “optimistic always, it’s a trait I got from my father”.
She added: “I think, honestly, there’s no other option. We just can’t lose this opportunity, I think everyone really needs this now… like both sides.
“I do really, really hope that they would be willing to make the necessary compromises and make this happen.”
Chaim Peri, 80, was kidnapped from kibbutz Nir Oz on 7 October – when Hamas killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took more than 200 hostages.
The attack triggered Israel’s retaliatory military campaign against Hamas in Gaza which has seen more than 40,000 people killed in the territory since the war started, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not say how many were militants.
Mr Peri managed to save his wife’s life before he was captured and taken to Gaza.
His kibbutz released a statement criticising the Israeli government, saying he had “been abandoned to his death in captivity”.
A video showing he was alive was released by Hamas in December, but he was declared dead by the IDF in June.
“You always… you need to think hard that he’s alive and pray for him and fight for him. And then one day you just get the message that he was killed in captivity,” said Noam.
“It’s very hard to even understand it.”
Noam Peri, the daughter of Chaim Peri, who died in Gaza after being kidnapped by Hamas. Pic: Reuters
Mr Peri was recovered from a tunnel beneath Khan Younis along with five other hostages -Yagev Buchshtab, Alexander Dancyg, Avraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, and British-Israeli Nadav Popplewell.
Talks to secure a ceasefire and the release of the remaining 109 hostages are still under way but hope for a deal is fading.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is insisting Israeli troops remain in parts of Gaza, a condition that Hamas rejects.
Read more:
Bodies of six hostages recovered in Gaza overnight, IDF says
Are Antony Blinken’s Gaza ceasefire talks just for show?
Noam added: “It’s important for me to look forward and see those other hostages that are still there and make sure no one’s forgotten and that we are fighting to get them back. I know many of them personally, but also those I haven’t known before.
“I now know their families and we’re fighting together, this fight for ten months now. There’s no chance I can move on with my life, or do anything else, before they’re all back.
“I think it’s true to me, it’s true to the communities of the Gaza envelope, and it’s true to every person in Israel.
“To tell you the truth, I don’t think anyone can really move on until we have those people back.”
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She went on: “We’re a small country and we don’t have a lot of resources like natural resources, but it is a strategic resource for Israel, not as a cliché: the field that we do care about is each other.
“Even though you can sometimes hear very loudly some of the more extreme politicians, the majority of the public really, really wants to see the hostages back and is willing to do a lot for this and they really want to see our leaders sign this deal.
“I have a belief that the leaders see the polls, and see what the public wants, and they will follow it if for no other reason.”
The US secretary of state Antony Blinken after landing on Tuesday
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelled to Egypt and Doha on Tuesday after extensive talks in Israel on Monday.
Another high-level negotiation round is hoped for later in the week in Cairo, but a date hasn’t been confirmed and Hamas are yet to say whether they will attend.