The news rippled around the world Friday of the release of 24 hostages from the Gaza Strip as an Israel-Hamas deal paused fighting. Some Bay Area residents with loved ones in Israel said this news gave them hope for future hostage releases but also fear for the safety of those remaining in captivity.
The office of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Friday that among those hostages were 13 Israeli citizens who were returned to Israel. According to the list released by the Prime Minister's office Friday, the Israeli citizens released included five people over the age of 70 as well as three families with young children.
These hostages underwent a medical examination and will be accompanied back to their families, Netanyahu's office said.
Qatar's foreign ministry told NBC News that 10 Thai nationals and a Filipino citizen captured from Israel on Oct. 7 were also released by Hamas.
Among the Bay Area residents watching these developments closely is Yael Nidam Kirsht, a Berkeley resident.
Nidam Kirsht said that her husband's sister, Rimon Kirsht Buchshtab, 36, and Rimon's husband Yegev Buchshtab, 34, are among the hostages remaining in captivity.
Oct. 7 was the last time Nidam Kirsht said her family has heard from her brother-in-law and sister-in-law. On that day, Nidam Kirsht said her brother-in-law and sister-in-law told the family they heard gunshots and saw armed gunmen around their kibbutz shouting and shooting.
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Eventually, Nidam Kirsht said her brother-in-law's family returned to that house to find it pieced with bulletholes and no sign of her brother-in-law and sister-in-law. Nidam Kirsht said the Israeli Defense Forces told their family that her brother-in-law and sister-in-law had been kidnapped. Since then, Nidam Kirsht said a Hamas video depicting three female hostages appears to show her sister-in-law.
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While Nidam Kirsht's loved ones are not among the hostages released on Friday, the news leaves her optimistic.
"I am incredibly hopeful, just the fact that a deal was negotiated and some people are coming back," she said.
"The international community has proven that when it intervenes it can create the conditions for the release of the hostages," she continued.
But Nidam Kirsht worries about her brother-in-law and sister-in-law's well-being as they remain captive. In the Hamas video, Nidam Kirsht said her sister-in-law appears to be without her glasses which she usually needs to see.
"I think the only thing I am thinking about right now, is the ability to hug my sister-in-law, and my brother-in-law, my ability to be with them, that’s as far as I can think, and I hope that whoever it is that is making decisions, is making decisions thinking about the hostages," Nidam Kirsht emphasized.
Tyler Gregory, the CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Bay Area, described the release of this recent group of hostages as "bittersweet" because while some families will be reunited, the town that they were taken from was "completely devastated" on Oct. 7. Around 240 hostages are believed to have been taken that day.
"We have family members of the hostages all across the Bay Area, especially in Silicon Valley where there’s a big Israeli-American community, they’re watching this, it's hard to take a single breath right now, especially not knowing what's going to happen tomorrow," Gregory said.
He noted that among Bay Area community members, there is a united call to return all of the remaining hostages home.
Gregory also said that there are believed to be around 50 American hostages remaining in captivity.
"We’re hopeful we will have news on that front in the days ahead," Gregory added.
In San Jose, Rabbi Josh Berkenwald was at Congregation Sinai preparing for the upcoming Shabbat and reflecting on the latest news about the hostage release.
"I can’t imagine what it would feel like, especially for children who don’t understand any of this, I can’t imagine the permanent psychological and emotional trauma that they’re going to be left with," Berkenwald reflected.
Berkenwald said he feels relief for the families of those who have been released and worries for those still held by Hamas.
"For the last month plus, we’ve been praying for the safe return of the hostages in services every single week, and we will continue to do that as well," he said.
Berkenwald is now preparing for the upcoming Hannukah celebrations with an added degree of apprehension.
The reported rise in antisemitic speech, harassment, and vandalism since the start of the Israel-Hamas war has been "very scary" for Berkenwald who said he has spent much of his time since Oct. 7 dealing with security issues around the synagogue.
