Dear Editor,

After 737 agonising days the words feel insufficient, yet they must be spoken: Welcome home, Gali and Ziv Berman, Omri Miran, Matan Angrest, Eitan Mor, Alon Ohel, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Elkana Bohbot, Avinatan Or, Yosef-Haim Ohana, Evyatar David, Rom Braslavski, Segev Kalfon, Nimrod Cohen, Maxim Herkin, Eitan Horn, Matan Zangauker, Bar Kupershtein, David Cunio, and Ariel Cunio! We celebrate the return of all 20 living hostages whose faces became the enduring heartbreak of a nation.

On October 7, 2023 the world witnessed an attack of barbaric cruelty that shattered our sense of security and humanity. The tunnels of Gaza became a living tomb for beloved citizens and foreign nationals — the young, the elderly, the parents, and the children — stolen from their lives and communities. For over two years they existed in darkness and abuse, their absence a raw, gaping wound in the soul of a people.

Today, as the final groups return, buoyed by the fragile promise of a ceasefire, we feel a seismic shift — a rush of joy, tears, and overwhelming relief. We celebrate this light piercing the long shadow.

This fragile step towards peace is a moment of sober hope. We pray that Hamas will honour the terms of this exchange and release every living soul still held captive, and we grieve for those not returned. We also hold the sacred hope that all of the deceased — those who deserved to be buried with honour and dignity long ago — will be returned to their families, allowing the national healing process to truly begin.

We pray for a future for all Gazans — a future of possibility and freedom from the poison of extremist terror indoctrination. We yearn for a time when their children, too, can be free to dream of life, rather than martyrdom, and coexist in peace and possibility with their neighbours.

May the return of these hostages hasten a reality in which terror is vanquished and peace can finally take root.

Jillian Forbes

jillianforbes21@gmail.com