Israelis stop hostage clock after last remains come home

TEL AVIV — The stopwatch that haunted a Tel Aviv square counting every hectic second since Hamas kidnapped 251 Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, was stopped Tuesday evening in a solemn ceremony attended by hundreds of people.

After 843 days and 12 hours, Israelis in “Hostage Square” marked the end of a crisis, opening a new chapter in a tenuous ceasefire between the Israeli army and Hamas militants that has lasted for nearly four months.

“We are here on a day that we have prayed for since October 7 for 844 days. The clock has continued to tick, counting each day, each minute, each second,” said Malki Shem-Tov, the father of former captive Omer Shem-Tov, who spoke from the podium below the frozen clock. “Since our worlds stopped on October 7, we never imagined the clock would hit three digits. Thank goodness we can finally stop counting.”

The clock was officially removed a day after Israeli soldiers recovered the body of Ran Gvili, a young police officer killed on October 7 and whose body was that of the last remaining hostage in Gaza.

Today, for the first time since 2014, there are no more Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said.

“An entire nation is breathing a huge sigh of relief tonight,” he said Monday at an event in Jerusalem alongside U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. “The real healing of our nation can begin now. »

Even now that the countdown has stopped, it is unclear what will become of “Hostage Square” or the political movement that has sprung up amid the tent encampments of hostage families, fueled by the constant scrutiny of Israeli and international media.

The square, located beneath the Kirya skyscraper, headquarters of Israel’s defense establishment, provided hostage families and activists with a weekly platform to demand that the Israeli government return the hostages home, even if that meant compromising with Hamas. Major foreign and domestic television news channels, including NBC News, broadcast prime-time broadcasts from the square’s pavilions.

“It all started with advocating for what people thought was right and for justice for these hostages,” Hannah Bartel, 27, a New York native and youth programs coordinator for Young Judea, a Zionist youth movement, said at the event. “To keep the hope that we will find a way to live together, I think that is what Israelis must do now. »

It is still unclear whether the square will retain its name. Activists who were close to the hostages’ families throughout the ordeal said they did not know what the square would be called. There was talk among families of changing its name to “Place des Retournés”, but the choice of a definitive name is already the subject of a municipal debate.

“We will soon form a committee to review all initiatives and ideas regarding the square,” said Itay Waldman, spokesperson for the Tel Aviv Municipality. “No decision has been made yet.”

Gvili’s return officially moves the Gaza ceasefire into its second phase, during which the Trump administration plans to focus on post-war governance, rebuilding the enclave and disarming Hamas.

Unlike the first phase of the ceasefire, which took place according to a timetable and included relatively clear steps, the terms of the second phase are still under negotiation. Hamas has not accepted any disarmament project.

Despite the ceasefire, Gaza residents suffer pitiful conditions. Israeli attacks have killed nearly 500 people since the ceasefire took effect in early October, according to Palestinian health officials in Gaza, almost half of which is run by Hamas.

Most of the population lives in temporary housing consisting of tents or partially destroyed buildings, both vulnerable to winter weather.

Many of the hundreds of Israelis at Tuesday night’s event said they were unsure whether the second phase of the ceasefire would ever succeed.

“The war, I don’t think it’s over. (…) I don’t think it’s ever over,” said Hadar Minard, 21, who said he was a volunteer. “We will always have a war to fight, but at least we know it is now over. »