Many family members of the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza and a handful of those who have been released expressed optimism at the current push for a ceasefire agreement on Tuesday, the second anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
The Hostage Families Forum hosted an event at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, with a handful of former hostages and loved ones of the remaining 48 hostages in attendance.
The overriding sentiment during the remarks was a sense of hope that the current effort to get Israel and Hamas to finalize a permanent end to the war will come to fruition, which would secure the release of those 48, who have been held for two years now.
“This past week, for the first time in a long time, hope has returned. President [Donald] Trump has put forward a deal, a plan that can bring all 48 hostages home and finally end this war after so many broken promises and false hopes. This one, this one feels different. It feels real,” said Liran Berman, whose twin younger brothers are among the remaining hostages.
Berman’s brothers, Gali Berman and Ziv Berman, were kidnapped from their community of Kfar Aza, one of the primary neighborhoods Hamas terrorists targeted in their Oct. 7 assault. More than 60 people who lived in Kfar Aza were killed, and Hamas took 19 people hostage from the kibbutz.
“President Trump, we are thankful for what you’ve done, for your determination, for the time and energy you’ve given to this cause. You’ve given families like mine something we haven’t had for a very long time: belief that this cycle can end,” he continued.
Several Trump administration Cabinet officials met with the families during a breakfast event at the Kennedy Center’s Sukkah, a temporary outdoor hut that Jewish people build to celebrate the holiday of Sukkot. A giant banner atop it read, “Sukkah of Hope.”
Trump laid out his 20-point ceasefire proposal last week at the White House alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. If finalized, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages, about 20 of whom are believed to be still alive but are likely in poor condition, within a matter of days.
Hamas agreed to some of the deal’s pieces and said others would require additional negotiations, which are currently ongoing in Egypt.
Liran Berman told the Washington Examiner, “Hope is a delicate subject. This is the most hopeful I’ve felt since January. There is an actual sense of it might happen this time, but until they are here, they’re not here. We’re waiting to see them. We’ve been through those high hopes and downfalls, but we do really feel the hope with President Trump’s unwavering commitment since Day One of his administration.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick were among the Cabinet officials who attended the breakfast.
“The brutality we endured still haunts me, the images of medieval torture, the echoes of suffering, they do not fade,” Keith Siegel, who survived 484 days in Hamas captivity, said. “We were trapped in suffocating tunnels, left alone, 130 feet underground. We were starved, denied water, beaten, held in unbearable conditions, forced to make propaganda videos, and pressured to convert to Islam.”
Former hostages Noa Argamani and Idan Alexander, who are expected to meet with Trump later in the day, were in attendance as well.
The Hostage Family Forum appealed to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, urging them to award Trump the Nobel Peace Prize. Trump then sent a letter to the families thanking them and expressing his support.
“My entire administration has been touched by the fact that, through the unimaginable pain and suffering of spending two years not knowing where your loved ones are, you have continued telling their stories and advocating on their behalf,” the letter said. “Please know that we remain steadfastly committed to seeing an end both to this conflict and the waves of anti-Semitism, both at home and abroad.”
He concluded the letter, “[W]e pray that this conflict will be at an end in the coming days — or else.”