JERUSALEM — Yaniv Hegyi, who survived the Hamas-led attack on the Israeli community of Be’eri on Oct. 7, 2023, said he was watching the announcement of an imminent ceasefire with painfully mixed feelings.
At least three Be’eri residents who were abducted during the assault are still being held in the Gaza Strip. “Watching them come home would be a moment of real joy,” said Hegyi, who supports the deal. “We’re hoping for that.”
But the provisional ceasefire also underscored the fact that Hamas mostly remained in power in Gaza for now, despite 15 months of Israeli efforts to uproot the group by force, said Hegyi.
“I’m hoping for a ceasefire, but I know we’ll eventually go back to fighting,” he said.
Roughly 100 people were killed in Be’eri during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, according to Israeli authorities. The loss constituted almost 1 in every 10 people who lived in Be’eri, a small collective kibbutz just east of the border with Gaza.
Another village in southern Israel close to the border that was overrun by Hamas militants was Nir Oz. More than 50 people were killed and 70 others taken hostage from Nir Oz on that day, including Sagui Dekel-Chen, an Israeli American.
Jonathan Dekel-Chen, Sagui’s father, said he would feel relief only when his son and the other hostages in Gaza returned to Israel. Sagui, 36, is a father of three daughters, including one whom he hasn’t met.
“We’ve had too many disappointments, too many additional horrors over the course of these last 15 months,” Jonathan Dekel-Chen said. “So we are just taking this day by day.”
The residents of Be’eri once hoped to return to their homes without fear of another attack like the Oct. 7, 2023, incursion. But many now have begun to accept that any truce would most likely only pause, not end, the conflict with Hamas, said Hegyi.
“If we return to Be’eri, we’ll still be living under air-raid sirens and rocket attacks,” lamented Hegyi. “I don’t see there being peace. In order for there to be peace, there must be new leadership in Gaza and Israel, as well as years of quiet and education for peace and mutual understanding.
“What’s the chance of all that happening? Practically zero,” he added.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
