A British-Israeli woman whose mother was released by Hamas terrorists last month but whose father is still held has welcomed the deal to release hostages and insisted it must be ‘women and children first.’
Selfless Sharone Lifschitz has been waiting like the families of the other 239 hostages held for news of an agreement which will bring an end to their unbearable heartache.
Her mother Yocheved, 85, was released by Hamas almost four weeks ago but her father Oded, 83, is still being held. Mrs Lifschitz said she was ‘hopeful’ of a deal.
Mrs Lifschitz told : ‘Everyone is incredibly anxious at the moment, but I think it must be the children who go first and they shouldn’t be separated from their mothers.
‘But this is all part of Hamas plan to put us through an impossible situation, it’s a form of psychological torture.’
Sharone Lifschitz’s (left) mother Yocheved, 85, (right) was released by Hamas almost four weeks ago
Sharone’s father Oded, 83, is still being held by the Hamas terrorists. They are pictured together here
Mrs Lifschitz said she thought any exchange would be through the Rafah crossing in the south and added: ‘It usually starts with a small handful to see how things go from that, but the children should come first.
‘We have an official from the government who is keeping us informed and all of us are just waiting to see our loved ones but it’s the children who must come first, we have to put them first.
‘All we can do is pray that my father will be released soon because I don’t think he will be able to last much longer, everyone who has some held is completely devastated and we hope this is the start of some good news.’
Meanwhile Israel’s Ministry of Justice published a list of 300 names of Palestinian prisoners who said would be considered for release.
As part of the deal negotiated in Qatar between Israel and Hamas 150 prisoners will be freed in exchange for around 50 hostages held in Gaza and the ratio will go up during the four day ceasefire.
Most of those lined up for release from Israel are males under 18 held for rioting and rock throwing in the West Bank or east Jerusalem, while there are also 13 women held for attempted terror stabbings.
However Almagor Terror Victims Association has said it will file a petition to the High Court against the deal and it’s founder Meir Indoor, said they believed the ‘same landmines and surprises in the agreement were present in almost every other hostage deal in the past’.
The ceasefire is expected to kick in within the next 24 hours and on Wednesday the Israeli Defence Forces reported continued heavy fighting in Gaza and sirens sounded several times across the country.