Video: The Engel family home in Nir Oz / Credit: Gil Cramer

Ronen, 54, was married to Karina and father to Tom, Mika, and Yuval, and brother of Danny. A photographer, dedicated Magen David Adom volunteer, passionate hiker and off-road cyclist, vintage collector, and above all a true friend, he went out to defend his family when the first terrorist squad broke into their home and engaged them in combat, at the end of which he fell and was abducted.

Ronen was a devoted father to his children, an animal lover, an optimistic person who always looked on the bright side, smiling and cheerful. In recent years he volunteered as an emergency medical responder with MDA alongside his work as a water technician, and in the kibbutz, he was involved in the chicken coop and in renovating and restoring furniture and vintage items.

"We will always remember Ronen as a devoted family man, incorrigible optimist, with a sense of humor and a zest for life and constant smile who made sure to listen and help those around him," Kibbutz Nir Oz announcement stated.

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Video: Protesters during the Day of Disruption on August 26, 2025

Roads were blocked across the country, including the Ayalon highways, Raanana Junction, Yakum bridge, Highway 4 near Mesubim, Highway 1, and Shilat Junction near Modiin. Police intercepted a stockpile of tires prepared for arson to block traffic arteries in central Israel.

Families took the lead. Yotam Cohen, brother of Nimrod Cohen, said, "A week after Hamas signaled readiness for a deal, there is still no agreement. Everyone saw my brother Nimrod in Hamas' custody, but he is not home." His father, Yehuda Cohen, added, "Israel stands against Netanyahu and his government."

Einav Zangauker, mother of Matan Zangauker, accused Netanyahu of stalling: "Our people fight for brothers and sisters in captivity. Netanyahu fears public pressure." Hagit Chen, mother of Itay Chen, urged, "Sit at the table until the last hostage returns." Itzik Horn, father of Eitan Horn, condemned the government for risking hostages' lives in a military operation, warning, "This is not the country we built."

Demonstrators also protested outside the homes of Minister Gila Gamliel and Likud lawmaker Boaz Bismuth, who is a senior Likud MK.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum issued a response to recent statements made by the US president Donald Trump, saying, "President Trump, you declared that within the next 2-3 weeks the war will come to an end. We pray this is true and that you are setting a deadline for ending our suffering. You made a direct commitment to the captivity survivors you met that you would bring all the hostages home – the time has come to fulfill this," the statement read.

"We want to remind you that there are 50 hostages in Gaza. Each one is a brother or sister, parent, child – an entire world. Since October 7, 42 hostages who were taken alive have been murdered in captivity. Every day the fighting continues puts our loved ones in greater danger of never returning home. Every additional delay in signing the deal endangers all 50 who remain there. We understand that the information you received from our government may be misleading, but please, we need your help, close the deal, and bring them all home before it's too late."

Eli Shtivi, father of Idan, who was murdered and whose body is being held in Gaza, told Kol Chai Radio: "Road blockades and shutting down the state are not what will bring the hostages home, it only bothers the ordinary citizen. I hear Hamas' calls from Gaza to topple the [Israeli] government and reach a deal that would also lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state, and unfortunately, many are echoing this call. We must not surrender to this. I do not agree that a Palestinian state should be established on the blood of my child."

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Attempts to promote such sentiment dominate prime-time news coverage for months, seemingly infiltrating excessive media coverage of disputes between Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir – coded as political versus military echelon conflicts. Hamas terrorists sitting in tunnels and celebrating their multi-phase plan's success for defeating Israel naturally benefit while starving hostages and rejecting every war-ending proposal in formulas Israel could accept.

Practically, all advocates of "end war at any price" policies should remember that Hamas demands for war conclusion and hostage return (theoretically complete) include total IDF perimeter withdrawal, weapon retention and Strip governance directly or indirectly, plus reconstruction initiation with Hamas dictating generous terms for "massacre success." Every interviewed former senior official confronting this demand suddenly stammers "I lack detailed knowledge, but..."

These details, for those avoiding amnesia, represent Hamas's identical attempt at Israeli state destruction and citizen murder. Consequently, alternatives should remain straightforward – nothing short of Hamas defeat.

Pathways toward this goal merit debate. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's current Gaza Strip conquest approach amid military resistance proves far from optimal. Political and military echelons argue extensively that chief of staff cannot face coercion into executing disagreeable plans. Many acknowledge that the chief of staff's Hamas defeat strategy through Operation Chariots of Gideon failed completely, achieving neither declared objective – Hamas toppling nor hostage recovery.

Under proposed planning, Military Advocate General opposition to pressuring Hamas terrorists in combat zones (weekend revelations in Israel Hayom remaining undenied) will harm soldiers while distancing goal achievement.

Consequently, upcoming days require military and political leadership to identify solutions through intensive discussions for improving war strategies before deploying additional soldiers. Endless quarreling between chief of staff and defense minister benefits neither party while intensifying concerns among families required to send relatives toward front lines repeatedly.

Beyond public relations considerations, military officials and Diplomatic-Security Cabinet should convene frequent consultations addressing prosecutorial limitations incompatible with warfare restrictions anywhere on Earth, plus determining middle-ground approaches between maintaining military capabilities for Hamas strikes while trapped in tunnels without providing recovery time.

Discussions regarding new formulas presented to Hamas require Israeli deadlines, otherwise Hamas time-extension objectives succeed again. Proposals need enforceability, with refusal costs measured through time and accumulating expenses. Unlike Operation Chariots of Gideon threats subsequently canceled through Doha negotiation chambers, Israel must demonstrate determination this time, possibly marking the first occasion since October 7 of following through completely. This represents the exclusive method for ending attrition warfare and returning hostages home.

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Steinbrecher urged Gadot: "Don't stop. We must keep talking about the hostages and keep them in the public's consciousness."

Gadot responded: "You went through unimaginably hard things, and I can't believe you're here now. You're going on with your lives and fighting for others. From the outside looking in—it's incredible how you've picked up the stretcher and are carrying it for those still there. You are strength. You are inspiration. I hope everyone comes back already."

About a week and a half earlier, Gadot visited communities near the Gaza border, including the Re'im Forest, where the Nova music festival massacre occurred, and toured several kibbutzim in the area. In Kibbutz Zikim, she stopped by a newly opened wine bar and spoke with residents.

Yael Glantz, the bar's manager, told Israel Hayom that it had been a personal visit: "Gal was very warm, and the meeting felt very intimate. She asked how we as a community are coping after October 7, wanted to know where we had been evacuated to, and how it felt to come back and live in the kibbutz."

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Ilana Gritzewsky, a former hostage and the partner of kidnapped soldier Matan Zangauker, delivered harrowing testimony about her 55 days in captivity.

"I am a woman who was kidnapped, who survived, and who came back to be the voice for those still in hell, for those who were murdered and will never have a voice, and for those who are still too afraid. And I will not be silent. I am one of those people who now appear in charts and headlines, but on my body those marks are etched."

"When I arrived in Israel 16 years ago, I was a teenager. I came here out of Zionism, out of love for this country, for this people. For a country built on solidarity, mutual responsibility, and one simple promise: that if you fall, someone will lift you up. If you are taken, someone will bring you back. And if you're trampled, someone will fight for you."

"But today, after everything I've endured, after everything we are going through, I ask you, where is that promise? Where is that someone? Because for 647 days, no one has brought my Matan home, nor anyone else left behind."

"I was held captive for 55 days, 55 days of hell that words cannot describe. Pain without end, humiliation with no bottom, fear that burns from the inside. My body took the blows, but my soul was crushed."

"I remember the gun pressed to my head. I remember them laughing as they pulled me, dragged me by the hair. I remember the dirty hands that stole everything I was. I became property, a hostage they could touch whenever they pleased, leave me in my underwear and bra whenever it suited them."

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According to Gilboa, she entered the cafe and asked to use the bathroom. When the employee refused, she explained that she urgently needed to go. He continued to argue and deny her access.

"I told him his behavior reminded me of when I had to beg the terrorists during my captivity just to go to the bathroom," Gilboa recounted. "He replied, 'Who cares that you were kidnapped? When we say no, it's no. Get out of here.'"

Gilboa said none of the other customers intervened. "Even though I was humiliated, no one got up to help me," she said. "No one should have to experience something like that. A business that respects itself shouldn't treat people this way."

She shared the incident on her Instagram story, prompting an outpouring of reactions. Many viewers expressed their outrage by leaving negative reviews of the cafe on Google in protest.

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600 have passed since I was kidnapped. Of those, I spent 505 days in captivity. I've been free for the past 95 days - but a part of me is still there.

Time is a luxury

The world has opened up again. Every place is accessible. I wake up when I want to, eat when and what my body asks for, drink cold water, and most of all, I hug. I hug whoever I want. I thank people. I thank the world around me and absorb the warmth and love that have come my way. But I know who I want to hug and still can't. Their loved ones want to hold them tight too, and never let go.

They are still there, still trapped in the nightmare. I count the days for them, too, because each day is like a lifetime. Each day is a matter of life or death. So I hug their posters because I can't find peace. At one event, I hold up a photo of Alon Ehel. At another, I cradle the images of my good friends Guy and Eviatar. From another stage, I raise pictures of Yonatan Samrano, or of Gali and Ziv.

Their photos, with the demand to bring them home, surround me and constantly remind me that I am not truly free. My commitment to them, to their families, slows time and keeps me with them in Gaza.

Yes, I'm here. But there are moments when I still feel like I'm there. Every plane overhead, every passing motorcycle makes me fall silent. My heart pounds, and I have to remind myself that I'm here, in a safe place. There are moments when I wake up in the middle of the night just to check that I'm in my own room, and breathe a sigh of relief.

Every moment of my day, I think about them. When I wake and see the light of day, I remember the darkness. When I drink water, I remember the thirst. When I eat, I remember the hunger. Every act that symbolizes my freedom - stays with me. I'm emotionally overwhelmed. I feel guilt, even though I know it's not my fault. Not my fault that I was kidnapped, not my fault that I survived, not my fault that I was released. But if I don't act, don't speak, don't do something, then yes - that will be my fault. So I speak. I tell my story. I hug. To show, to prove, to explain that they must be brought back - now.

I honestly don't understand how it's not clear to everyone that time is a luxury. It's running out, it's already gone. And still, somehow, the days in the free world keep ticking on. There, time stands still, in the dark, the humidity, the fear. There, their hope is fading. The trust and belief that we will bring them home is wearing thin, and that must not happen. For their sake, for their families, and for all of us, they must come home. Only then can we stop the clock. Only then can we enjoy the small moments without thinking, without counting. Simply live.

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Following their meeting, Dekel Chen said, "Edan and I spent part of our time in captivity together. Our fates became intertwined in the most unimaginable circumstances. It was important for me to come and congratulate Edan on his return. I know what he has been through, and what he still has ahead of him. I am truly happy for him and his family. I hope that soon I'll be able to embrace all the hostages who remain behind."

As previously reported, Dekel Chen was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, and spent 499 days in Hamas captivity before being released on February 15. During his time in captivity, his third child, a daughter named Shahar, was born.

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Israel Hayom has learned that the Witkoff framework, which will form the basis of the talks, will once again consist of two phases. The first phase would prompt the immediate release of Israeli hostages in exchange for a 40-day freeze in Israeli military operations in Gaza. During this time, the second phase - focused on ending the war - would be discussed. It is this second phase that is prompting deep concerns on the Israeli side about the shape of the "day after" in Gaza.

Until now, President Donald Trump had backed Israel's demand for full disarmament of the Gaza Strip, a condition Hamas has repeatedly rejected. However, Washington now appears open to compromising on Hamas' demand to remain a significant force in the Strip, even if under a different governing authority or in partnership with one.

Israeli fears a gradual disarmament that won't happen

Israel is concerned that the US may propose a phased disarmament plan for Gaza, one that Hamas would never truly implement. This could result in the war ending with Israel faced with a new status quo, in which Hamas remains a heavily armed and violent force in Gaza, just across its border.

These and other issues are expected to be clarified in the coming days. Israel has committed to continue the talks in Qatar through the end of the week, as long as Trump remains on his visit to the Middle East.

In a move to pave the way for the resumption of mediation efforts, Mossad Director David Barnea recently traveled to Qatar on a mission from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Despite reports of US-imposed pressure, Israeli officials insist they are determined to exhaust all efforts to secure the hostages' release before launching the next phase of the Gaza operation. Netanyahu has managed to secure the backing of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, head of the Religious Zionist Party, to continue the negotiations, provided military action resumes if they fail.

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The official statement by the spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Obeida, was released on his Telegram channel following a string of overnight reports in Arab media that Alexander would be released at 12:00 p.m. Monday. A Saudi outlet reported that the handover to the Red Cross would be conducted without a large-scale propaganda event, unlike previous hostage releases.

Meanwhile, US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to arrive in Israel today to explore the possibility of expanding the current release deal, potentially paving the way for the release of additional hostages. A senior Hamas figure told the Associated Press that Hamas was advised "to give President Trump a gift, and he will give them a bigger one in return." An Egyptian official noted that Hamas had received assurances through Egyptian and Qatari mediators that Alexander's release "puts all issues on the table," including a potential end to the war.

A US official said that if a deal is reached for a long-term ceasefire and negotiations to end the war, President Donald Trump may consider visiting Israel before Saudi Arabia. The intent is to hold a joint photo opportunity with the freed hostage and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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