Hundreds of people gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday to watch the televised handover of three hostages from Gaza, cheering, waving Israeli flags and shedding tears of joy — a big change from the tears of shock and anguish prompted by a similar release a week ago, when the hostages were clearly in poor physical condition.
“Three pieces have returned to my heart,” said Doron Zexer, a prominent advocate for the hostages, part of the crowd watching the ceremony in Gaza where the Red Cross received the three Israelis — Sasha Trupanov, Sagui Dekel-Chen and Iair Horn.
At last week’s release, the condition of the hostages set off shock waves across Israel, prompting many to compare them to Holocaust survivors.
That fueled pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to secure the release of the remaining hostages as quickly as possible, and contributed to an emotional week in Israel. Hamas initially threatened to delay handing over any more captives, nearly derailing a cease-fire agreement.
But Saturday’s release went ahead as planned. There appeared to be fewer people gathered in Hostages Square — a plaza in Tel Aviv where families of the captives and their supporters have gone each week to watch live broadcasts of the hostage releases — than on previous release days.
Naama Moses, a volunteer selling merchandise to support the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents relatives of the captives, ascribed this to the pain that many felt when they saw the three men who were freed last week.
“Perhaps containing your disappointment would be easier at home in front of the telly, on your own,” Ms. Moses said.
Dr. Hagai Levine, the head of the medical team for the hostage families group, said that while the men released Saturday were talking and walking on their own, it was evident from the video of their release that they needed medical care.
“Now they will have to be examined very carefully,” he said.
Dr. Levine said those released recently had shared “dreadful testimonies” about the status of hostages who remain in Gaza.
“Being in captivity for nearly 500 days means severe damage to their health,” he said. “They don’t have time, they may not survive the next weeks.”
The specter of the cease-fire negotiations breaking down alarmed families whose loved ones were not set to be released during the cease-fire agreement’s current phase, which ends early next month.
“There’s concern,” said Mr. Zexer, whose family hosted the Israeli American hostage Edan Alexander during his military service in Israel. “We are living in a reality show that even the devil couldn’t have conceived.”
Describing the tension and uncertainty between each week’s release, Mr. Zexer said that “the hostages are paying the price.”
Viki Cohen, the mother of an Israeli soldier still held in Gaza, said in an interview that the joy of seeing three more hostages released was tempered by anguish and uncertainty.
“We are on a crazy roller coaster,” said Ms. Cohen, who recently received evidence that her son Nimrod was still alive. He is not among the hostages expected to be released in the first phase of the cease-fire. “We are doing everything in our power for him to return,” she said.
Even after the Red Cross drove away with the newly released men, heading toward Israel, the crowd at Hostages Square remained, hoisting pictures of people still in captivity in a subdued celebration of solidarity.
“It’s overwhelming to be here, the warmth and the love,” said Jennifer Brandeis, who was visiting Tel Aviv from Virginia. “Being together — it’s everything to me.”