Until Itay and the other remaining hostages come home

Every day, my family waits impatiently for the worst phone call of our lives with regard to the fate of our son, Itay, and, in a cruel twist of irony, every day that we don’t get that call, we are disappointed.

That is the agonizing reality for families like mine, whose loved ones have not yet been returned to us from captivity in Gaza. For us, this nightmare has not ended.

I am deeply relieved and joyful for the families whose loved ones have been freed from Gaza captivity and are finally able to hold them in their arms or have been granted the mercy of finally laying them to rest. They can begin, however slowly, to live again, to heal. But for those of us whose family members are still in Gaza, we remain trapped, our grief eternally suspended, our emotional wounds bleeding, our mourning stuck in limbo.

If Hamas truly wants to move on to the “next stage” of this deal for the benefit of the people of Gaza, as its spokespeople seem to suggest, then it must first complete the first part of the deal. That means returning the fallen hostages it holds. That is the agreement that President Donald Trump established and that they signed on for. There is no moral ground for the future phase of diplomacy or reconstruction without holding up their present end of the bargain.

Hamas claims it is having difficulty finding the remaining hostages. That is simply a cruel stalling tactic, as we know Hamas knows where all the hostages are. It held control over every tunnel, every document, every inch of Gaza.

Months ago, President Trump secured the release of US hostage Edan Alexander with a phone call to the emir of Qatar. Hamas claimed the release was a sign of respect towards the US president. How can they claim to respect the president when they openly flout the very deal that they agreed to and when two US citizens remain trapped in Gaza, including our son, Itay?

The return of the remaining fallen hostages is not a political issue; it’s a human one. It is about dignity, closure, and the most basic right of a family to mourn. Ultimately, it is much more about the living than the dead, for without a proper burial for our son, we have no life. We are like the walking dead – we need our loved ones back home to grieve, heal, and move back towards life.

Though some claim this horror is now behind us, for us and the other families whose children, husbands, and fathers remain in Gaza, this is not over. It will not be over until every hostage is home. If Hamas wants to prove that it is ready and willing to move on, it can start by putting an end to this cruelty.

I am certain that President Trump, Special Envoy Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and the entire US team are fully committed and motivated to winning the release of all the hostages and to bringing a better future for the people in the region. I can only pray we see the same conviction from Hamas.