“It’s just a glimmer of hope.”

It was the time the Israelites longed for. On Sunday afternoon, after 471 long days of being held by Hamas during one of the darkest hours in Israel’s history, three young hostages walked home from a Gaza prison to freedom.

The release of the three women – Romy Gonen, Emilie Damaris and Doron Steinbrecher – is the start of a multilateral agreement that offers a chance to end the brutal war in Gaza, and the hope of freedom for dozens of hostages after more than 15 months of suffering for them, their families and the country.

But the joy and relief of the Israelis is tempered by what will unfold in the coming weeks. Israeli officials believe at least half of the remaining 94 hostages are dead. And many doubt the fragile reconciliation will last long enough to reverse.

“There is this difference between this state of mind, which may be the last day (of life) for their wife or child – and the next week the same person may be sleeping in the next room,” says Udi Goren, whose family was killed on October 7 and then brought to Gaza with the remains of his cousin, Tal Haimi. He is waiting to return.

“I don’t think words can describe the vast difference between these two feelings.”

For the past 15 months, the fate of the hostages has been etched in Israel’s national consciousness. Since the heyday, their faces have been plastered on buildings and billboards from Haifa to Eilat. Details of their lives fill the daily news channels. Demonstrations demanding government action to free them have become weekly events.

But as the clock ticked toward a truce this weekend, at least some were reminded of just how volatile the situation is, along with hope that it will finally be resolved. The Yemeni missiles set off a terrifying screech of airstrikes that could be heard across the country. In Tel Aviv, a Palestinian stabbed an Israeli before being shot dead by a passerby.

Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes continued to pound Gaza until Sunday morning, and Palestinian officials said the death toll in the ravaged territory had risen to more than 140 since the deal was announced last week.

“There is a glimmer of hope, but it’s not the light at the end of the tunnel,” Daria Giladi said with a friend Saturday evening at a rally in support of the hostages in downtown Jerusalem.

“You’re glad people are coming home, you’re glad the war is over, if only for a little while. But there is still such a long way to go. Only a third of the hostages are said to be coming back (in the first six-week deal). So it is not enough,” he said.

Even the relatives of the 33 hostages who will be released in the first phase of the deal – children, women, the sick and the elderly – will be freed, the uncertainty is worrisome.

Sharon Lifschitz’s parents, Yocheved and Oded, lifelong advocates with the Palestinians, were both arrested on October 7. Yocheved was freed 17 days later. But the family knows nothing about Oded’s fate. When Yocheved returned, she told her family that he had died. But the hostages said they saw him alive after being released a few weeks later in a November 2023 truce.

And for the past 15 months, the family has been waiting for Oded’s safe return, grappling with what it means to survive so long in Hamas captivity when the frail octogenarian was shot in the wrist during a Hamas attack. .

We all fight for him believing we want him back until we know otherwise. “If his luck and strength hold and he finds a way to survive all the odds, we’re really looking forward to seeing him,” Lfschitz drawls.

“(However) he saw everything he fought for destroyed. Then it should have been in the hands of the people who caused it. And if his health was not strong and he was injured, he had to survive somehow. It’s hard to wish that on anyone—let alone the father you love so much.

For families whose relatives cannot be freed until the second and third stages – when the remaining surviving male hostages and then the bodies of the dead are returned – the uncertainty is greater.

When the previous seven-day truce and prisoner exchange in November 2023 freed 110 of the 250 hostages originally held, many in Israel hoped that such deals would be made and the remaining hostages could be returned. Soon as well.

But what followed was a 14-month false dawn, as Israel and Hamas repeatedly failed to reach an agreement and the number of hostages alive dwindled. In Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, right-wing ministers have repeatedly said they will thwart a deal, angering the hostages’ relatives. And they did not release those who had relatives up to two or three degrees.

Among them, Herut Nimrodi’s 18-year-old son, Tamir, who was captured in his pajamas, barefoot and without glasses, was arrested from a military camp near the Erez crossing in the early hours of the Hamas attack.

Nimrudi says their last message is the exact time – 06.49am – when Tamir meets her and the rockets are landing at the base. His family found out about his arrest when his daughter saw a video on Instagram. But they had no sign of his condition in the past months. He celebrated his 20th birthday in NovemberHe said.

“I know my son’s name is not on the list (to be released in the first season), because he is a soldier, and we are very scared,” Nimrudi said. “I’m not just afraid of not getting to the next level. But that (after the release of the first batch) the lobby (for further releases) will be very small, because the hostages will be few and only men.

Even for those who have returned, there is widespread recognition that return is the first step. Lifshitz said her mother is handling her return from prison “better than most of us.”

But for those who have spent more than 15 months in prison, the process can be more difficult. He said the hostages who had already been released were kept in cages, or in complete darkness, because they were drugged and beaten, and sometimes tortured or sexually assaulted.

Hagai Levin, a doctor who works with a forum that supports families of hostages, said at a press conference last week that he expects “each[hostage’s]physical and mental health will suffer.” “Time is of the essence – recovery will be a long and painful process,” he said.

But for all the anger at the challenges ahead, families are desperate for the process to begin. “Everyone in Israel – and indeed families – need closure. We are now a wounded society. We are in dire straits. We haven’t started the post-depression yet.” says Nimrod. “We have to heal. And seeing the hostages return is like healing for the community.

Lifshitz agrees. “We know that many of the hostages are not alive and we will have a few funerals and yeshiva[times of mourning]to sit through,” she said. But at least there will be some sort of closure. We know. At least we know.