After 500 days in captivity, a sign of life—and a story ignored

A year ago, I sat down with Liran Berman, the older brother of twin hostages Gali and Ziv Berman, who were abducted from Kibbutz Kfar Aza on Oct. 7, 2023. After a 55-minute interview, I took his story to over 20 major news outlets and minor local publications. Two of my former professors—both award-winning journalists—helped me intricately shape my pitch. Despite professional oversight, timeliness, and newsworthiness, not a single outlet was interested in his story. But their responses to my pitch were variations of the same theme: We don’t need more hostage stories. 

Unable to secure a platform for Liran’s story, despite its urgency and relevance, I held onto it for nearly 10 months. I had assumed that given the timing of our interview—just after President Biden’s April 4 call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza—media outlets would recognize the timely value of his insight as the older brother of twins held in Hamas captivity. I was mistaken.

Though I had the opportunity to publish the piece in my former college’s student-run newspaper, I knew it would come at the cost of accuracy. The harsh reality of the Oct. 7 massacre would have been diminished, the trauma of Liran’s family downplayed, all in the name of their “editorial style”. 

While it was my only option, publishing it there felt like a betrayal—not just of journalistic integrity, but of my values as a writer, as a Jew, and as a human being. I was unwilling to compromise the story’s truth. Instead, I grappled with how to share it in a way that truly acknowledged its magnitude.

Now, nearly a year later, the Berman family has received the first sign of life from Gali and Ziv. And finally, I have a platform to tell their story—the way they deserve. 

Before Oct. 7, Liran Berman was about to start a new career. He had left his job in August 2023, preparing to step into a new career field. Then the massacre happened, and his goals shifted dramatically.

“Now I’m fully dedicated to this,” he told me in April 2024. “I can’t go to work, I am doing delegations. I was in Washington, D.C., then the European Parliament, then Brussels, then Strasbourg, then Paris, then London, and Madrid.” His life, once geared toward building a future for his own young family, is now enveloped by the ongoing fight to bring his brothers home.

After the massacre, the Berman family divided responsibilities amongst themselves. “My mother can’t do interviews, she can barely go to rallies,” he said. “She has taken on a managerial role. I’m doing the delegations and media abroad, my aunt does Israeli broadcasts, my uncle handles the logistics, meeting with government officials, IDF officers and managing funds.”

Liran has two children of his own, just five and two years old. When I asked how his role as a father has changed, his answer was heavy. “It’s changed. I want to say drastically, but I am trying to be there as much as I can.” He paused. “It’s not easy. I am not the best husband and father right now.”

The media’s moral failure

Berman emphasized that in the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7 Israel began losing the battle for public opinion. On October 8, 2023, pro-Palestinian demonstrations erupted in major cities, with rallies expressing support for the “resistance.” Then, in October 2024, marking one year after the massacre, thousands marched across the U.S. in celebration of the attacks that murdered over 1,200 Israeli civilians.

“Since October 8, we saw demonstrations against Israel—the day after,” said Berman. “We are losing the fight against misinformation, antisemitism and hate. We are losing the fight in universities and colleges, which are extremely important because they are the next generation of voters.”

The stories of the hostages have been largely ignored, downplayed or dismissed by not only mainstream news but world-renowned human rights organizations. It has been confirmed that Kfir Bibas and Ariel Bibas, who were 9 months old and 4 years old when they were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, were killed in captivity. Hamas announced that their bodies would be returned to Israel on Thursday. No statement has been made by the three largest human rights organizations: Amnesty International, UN Human Rights Council and Human Rights Watch. 

Healing in an uncertain future

For nearly 500 days, the family of Gali and Ziv Berman lived in agonizing uncertainty. Then, on Tuesday morning, Feb. 11, they received a sign of life. Released hostages verified that Gali and Ziv are alive– and are being held separately and are not in good condition. This latest update is the first verified sign of life since the previous hostage deal in November 2023.

“We are taking a breath on one hand, but we know whose hands they are in and how much danger their lives are in,” the family said in a recent statement.

For Liran, the fight does not end here. He knows the healing journey will be lengthy and unprecedented. His words to me 10 months ago have remained tragically relevant: “We don’t know how long healing will take, but we will hold them close, and protect them the best we can,” he said. “They will heal– and we will make sure of that.”

That unyielding resilience and strength in the face of uncertainty is the very essence of the Israeli spirit. For over a year, their story—like so many others—has been discarded, overlooked, and minimized. But the Berman’s do not have the luxury of looking away. This has been their reality for over 500 days.  

Their story—and the stories of all the hostages—must be amplified. The media’s failure to adequately cover their plight is a moral stain on the industry, but no narrative is ever set in stone. If journalists and major outlets refuse to cover hostages’ stories at length, then it falls to those who will. Bringing attention to their suffering is not just a moral obligation but the only appropriate response to a media landscape that has entirely normalized Jewish and Israeli suffering.