Israel at war: release of three hostages on 19 January 2025

The new emoji for a hero

After the finalisation of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the first release of some Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas for well over a year took place on Sunday, 19 January 2025. 

Emotions ran high among the Cape Town Jewish community and in Israel. The Cape Jewish Chronicle shares the sentiments of former Capetonians livinga in Israel and two Capetonians who were there at the time.

KAREN (NEE MARGOLIS) and ROBBI RESNICK (Herzlia Matric years 1977 and 1975), former Capetonians who have lived in Israel for over 40 years, were on holiday in Cape Town at the time of the hostage release:

Sunday – the day of the first release – was a very, very emotional day; and hard to be away from home while we anxiously awaited and then witnessed live on TV the release of Romy, Doron and Emily. These three wonderful women and their families have become part of our lives in the last 15+ months, and we are now waiting for the release of the other 94 hostages, hopefully to be returned safely and alive to their families. And unfortunately and devastatingly to the ones that did not make it to be buried in their home towns. That for us will be the real victory of the outcome of this war.



Cape Jewish Chronicle columnist, JULIAN RESNICK, comments:

I have lived in Israel for just under 50 years. It has been an emotional rollercoaster. I have lived through great joy and great pain, generally from up close and intimate. These past few days have been extremely hard for me as I am with my wife in a tiny village in the Ganges Delta in West Bengal. I am desperate to be home – in Israel – to experience the intensity of the emotional return of three of our hostages, Romy, Doron and Emily, back home, to their families and all of us, Israel and the Jewish People.

It feels weird for me to write to you from here, so let me share the words of my cousin Shiri, whose son, Eyal, fell fighting in Gaza. She wrote yesterday that in the last phone call she had with him before he fell in battle, he shared with her that he was prepared to fight until the last of the hostages came home to us.

That is how important their return home is to us in Israel.

We all know that this is not the deal we want. But, getting them home is the only – I want to say it again – the only way we will be able to heal our society and our people, Israel.

May the rest of the hostages return home to us speedily.


Shelley Trope-Friedman, the President of WIZO SA, and Simone Meyerowitz, Director of Wizo Cape Town, were
in Israel at the time of the first hostage release:

Shelley was attending a meeting for WIZO Presidents from all over the world. She invited Simone along with three others to represent South Africa as one of the 38 Federations. WIZO is the largest women’s Zionist organisation in the world.

Shelley: We all are feeling incredibly emotional and there is this sick feeling in all of us that there are still 94 hostages that remain in shocking circumstances. I have mixed feelings of ecstatic joy and deep sadness. The horror of the situation lies heavily in my heart. 

The ceasefire must continue and every hostage must be returned!  

It’s an extremely historic happening and it must continue to bring all the hostages home.

I invite all to join me in praying for us to bring all the hostages home safely!

Simone: On Saturday, 18th January, at 8 pm, I joined the anxious and large crowd (thousands and thousands of people) waiting for the pending ceasefire hostage deal – this day was also the 2nd birthday of baby Kfir Bibas, who is still held captive in Gaza so there were many tears and sad hearts followed by prayers and hope. 

Hostage Square has become a place for the public to express support for the families of hostages. It also hosts regular press conferences and rallies addressing the ongoing hostage crisis, which followed the brutal Hamas massacre on October 7th.

Everyone in Israel was holding their breath, and now, following the release of the three women hostages, there is happiness tinged with sadness as there are 94 hostages still held in Gaza.  


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