Posted on 11/26/23
| News Source: WBAL TV
Now that two dozen hostages and 39 Palestinian prisoners have been exchanged on the first day of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, some Baltimore-area residents are waiting to hear whether a certain Israeli nurse will be released.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the fighting will restart at the end of a four-day ceasefire.
Howard Libit, the executive director of the Baltimore Jewish Council, told 11 News it's vital for the Israeli military to end Hamas' terrorist rule in Gaza, but for now, Libit said it's critically important to help those released Friday.
Nili Margalit is an Israeli pediatric nurse who was abducted on Oct. 7 while she was working at a hospital near the Gaza border. According to other hostages, she has continued caring for others while she's held captive. Libit wears a bracelet with her name.
"I've been wearing a bracelet for one of those women. I don't know if she's been released today or not," Libit said. "A large group of us all put on bracelets, like Taylor Swift-like bracelets with someone's name, and I'm committed to wearing it until she's released or until we learn of some other fate."
Initial reports Friday evening indicate Margalit was not one of the 24 hostages released almost a month and a half after Hamas abducted them, including 13 Israeli women and children and 11 Asian nationals.
Libit said there's still hope, with Hamas expected to release at least 50 women and children over the four-day ceasefire.
"It's a great first step to see the release of hostages after so many weeks of captivity in what must have been horrible conditions in the tunnels under Gaza," Libit said. "I can't imagine the families in Israel who have been holding out hope that maybe my relative is being released today."
Libit pointed out that even with the 50 hostages that are expected to be released during a truce with Hamas, there remain many more.
"There's still going to be nearly 200 hostages still being held -- holocaust survivors, soldiers, men and women," Libit said. "It's going to be a long, painful process."
On Friday morning, a group of people at Towson Town Center held signs, some that read: "Free Palestine."
"It's been painful for all of us to watch the fighting, to see the innocent Palestinians who are dying, to see the Israelis who will continue to die in this fighting," Libit said. "I'm so hopeful that the hostage release (that's) planned over the next four days moves ahead, that it happens."
For his part, Libit agrees with Netanyahu about what needs to happen after the truce ends.
"It's critically important for the Israeli military to continue to root out Hamas, to remove Hamas from power in Gaza," Libit said.
Libit said that if Hamas is removed, the biggest beneficiaries will be everyday Palestinian citizens. And, he said in addition to what the hostages have gone through physically, they're going to need mental health treatment.