'He will come back’ - Israeli hostage families cling to hope, and demand a deal - BBC News

How months of trauma after seeing loved ones killed or held captive in Gaza is taking its toll.

13 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsIsrael-Gaza warImage source, Family handoutImage caption, Hersh Goldberg-Polin stands next to his mother Rachel. Hersh was last seen in a Hamas video after the 7 October attackBy Orla GuerinBBC News, Tel Aviv Rachel Goldberg-Polin now lives by a new calendar - not weeks, or months, but days of absence and anguish.

Every morning when she wakes, she writes a number on a piece of tape and sticks it to her clothing. It's the number of days since her son Hersh was taken hostage - she says stolen - by Hamas.

When we meet in Jerusalem that number is 155.

On the morning of 7 October, she turned on her phone to find two messages from Hersh. The first said: "I love you." The second sent immediately afterwards read: "I'm sorry." She called - no answer.

"It rang and rang," she says.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68534027

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