Homecoming, hope and healing after 738 days
We ached with their loved ones waiting for their return. We cried tears of joy seeing them released.
After 738 days, they came home.
The release of the last 20 living Israeli hostages from Hamas captivity in Gaza on Monday was a miracle we were not sure we would ever see. It was the culmination of two years of pain and longing.
We didn’t know them personally, but we knew them. We knew their stories, their dreams. We saw their suffering. We ached with their loved ones waiting for their return. We cried tears of joy seeing them released.
The emotion overcame us too here at The AJN. Over the past two years, we have taken seriously our responsibility to report on October 7 and its aftermath – but have done so while living the emotions ourselves.
The timing of their release too was deeply significant, coming on the eve of Simchat Torah, a usually joyous festival that became a wretched day two years ago as Hamas embarked on its rampage of slaughter.
The road ahead for Israel will still not be easy. But the healing can now begin. And Jews around the world can join our Israeli brethren in hoping that peace is perhaps that little bit closer.
Credit, of course, must go to US President Donald Trump, regardless of how polarising he may be, for achieving a deal no one else seemed able to. He certainly seemed to understand the dynamics at play far better than our own ineffectual government ever could.
But even as we rejoice, it is bittersweet.
At the time of print, not all the remaining hostages’ bodies have been returned. Hamas has been largely defeated, but remains in Gaza. Iran, while weakened, retains its goal to destroy the Jewish state.
Around the world, the antisemitism that was unleashed in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attacks will not go back into its bottle. Even once the ceasefire deal was signed, we saw protesters in Australian cities, driven by hate; rejecting the very ceasefire they had claimed to want and calling for Israel to be sanctioned or dismantled.
The fight ahead is still long.
But let’s take this moment. All those who care for Israel have earned it.
And may the joy, vindication, unity and strength we feel serve us in the still difficult days ahead.