Families and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas gather to demand a deal that will bring back all the hostages held in Gaza, outside a meeting between hostage representatives and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem, Jan. 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Freed Israeli hostages and families of those in captivity in Gaza reacted to news of Israel resuming military operations against Hamas as the ceasefire and hostage-release deal between them collapsed on Monday night.

“We heard from survivors who returned from hell, and the message was clear: We must immediately return to a ceasefire,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the largest organization dedicated to the release of the hostages, wrote on X. “The lives of our loved ones hang by a thread and cannot endure much longer. After surviving months in captivity against all odds, they are now in critical danger. Only a deal can bring back all the hostages.”

Since Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7, 2023 — in which the Palestinian terrorist group led the massacre of 1,200 people and kidnapping of 251 hostages during their invasion of southern Israel — well over 100 hostages have been released through negotiated ceasefire deals, and the Israeli military has rescued a smaller number in special operations.

There are currently 59 hostages still in Hamas’s captivity in Gaza, and over half of them are believed to be dead.

In another post, the forum wrote that, at a news conference, the families of some hostages “warned that continued fighting would lead to more hostage deaths and urged an immediate ceasefire and return to negotiations to secure the release of all remaining hostages.”

Noa Argamani became famous on Oct. 7, 2023, after an image of her being kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival — where Hamas murdered hundreds of young people — and separated from her boyfriend, Avinatan Or, was seen widely. Argamani, who has been speaking across the United States to advocate for the release of the rest of the hostages since her rescue from Hapas captivity last year, shared a message this week about the end of the ceasefire.

“Fighting Resumes. Two words, and so many emotions inside. Suddenly, out of the silence, all hopes explode in an instant,” Argamani wrote. “Two words, but for the hostages inside, they mean explosions and noises that bring back the fear of dying.”

Argamani explained the hope she felt in captivity when she heard of the first ceasefire and hostage-release deal in November 2023. “Every day, I held on to that hope. I told myself there was no way I wouldn’t make it out alive.”

“But then, in a single moment,” she continued, “we started hearing the explosions again. Suddenly, all the dreams of going home, of hugging family and friends — shattered in an instant. The thought of seeing the light again felt so far away. One moment, the ceasefire was gone, and with it, the hope that I would get out of there alive.”

Argamani concluded: “I’m sorry, Avinatan. I’m sorry that for 529 days, you haven’t seen daylight. I’m sorry that you were left behind. We must save them! Too many hostages who were taken alive — were murdered in captivity. We must save every living soul! This is our mission. We cannot leave them behind.”

Similarly, Yarden Bibas, who was held hostage for over a year and whose wife and children — Shiri, Kfir, and Ariel — were all murdered by Hamas, posted on Facebook against the decision to renew the war.

“Israel’s decision to return to fighting brings me back to Gaza, to the moments where I heard the sounds of explosions around me and where I feared for my life as I was afraid the tunnel where I was being held would collapse,” Bibas wrote. “My wife and children were kidnapped alive and brutally murdered in captivity. The military pressure endangers the hostages while an agreement brings them home.”

“We must stop the fighting and bring everyone home first of all,” he concluded.

However, not all hostages and hostage families oppose revamping the war effort.

The Tikva Forum — a right-wing alternative to the main hostage family organizations — wrote in a statement that it fully supports resuming fighting against Hamas, arguing it is only intense pressure on the terrorist group that will result in the hostages being freed.

“The past few weeks have proven what we have been saying all along – Hamas will never return all the abductees voluntarily,” the Tikva Forum wrote. “Only massive military pressure, a complete blockade that includes a power and water cut, and the occupation of territories that will lead to Hamas’s collapse, will lead it to beg for a ceasefire and a deal that will return all the abductees together, in one fell swoop.”

It concluded, “If the attack that began [Monday] continues with force and without interruption, we will be able to bring all our loved ones home in one fell swoop, on one bus.”