The last problems are said to be solved and a truce is near.
33 hostages are to be released – among them Swedish Rita Lifshitz’s father-in-law.
– Then we don’t know if he will come back alive or in a box, she tells TV4 Nyheternas’ reporter on the spot in Israel.
The final disputes in the agreement between Israel and Hamas should be resolved, according to a source with knowledge of Axios, which Reuters reported on.
According to an Israeli source, the security cabinet is expected to approve the agreement on Friday.
Rita Lifshitz is from Gothenburg but in the 80s she moved to a kibbutz in Israel. Her father-in-law Oded is 85 years old and he was kidnapped along with his wife and 75 others. She was released after a few weeks, he has been a hostage of Hamas for almost 500 days.
According to the deal on the table, 33 Israeli hostages – women, children, the sick and civilians over 50 – will be released by Hamas within six weeks in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Don’t know if he’s alive
Rita describes her father-in-law as stubborn and caring.
– We never know if this will continue until my father-in-law comes back. And then we don’t know if he will come back alive or in a box, she says to TV4 Nyheternas Filip Jacobson, who together with photographer Dan Norrå is on site in Tel Aviv.
85-year-old Oded is described as a human rights activist and peace fighter who loved his art and cacti, always believed in a two-state solution. He opposed the Israeli occupation and helped shuttle
Gazans to various hospitals around Israel and the West Bank.
Over the years he made many friends in Gaza.
– If he is alive, it is only because a family that has taken care of him in Gaza, who may have known him. If he’s in the tunnels, I don’t think he’s alive today, says Rita.