A man from Bridgend whose sister and nieces were killed in the attack on Israel on October 7 says the “torture” of months of uncertainty will continue until they are told if his brother-in-law is alive. A ceasefire deal has been negotiated to end the 15 months of war in Gaza including an agreement to release hostages.
Stephen Brisley’s sister Lianne, a British citizen, and his teenage nieces Noiya and Yahel were murdered in Hamas’s attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. His brother-in-law Eli was taken hostage.
There are 94 hostages still held by Hamas – 34 of whom are presumed dead – who will be released under the deal in various stages, US President Joe Biden has confirmed. Speaking on BBC Radio Wales this morning, Mr Brisley said the family do not know if Eli is alive. “As we understand it, it’s going to be a six-week deal that brings hostages out. There is a lot of water to go under the bridge before, potentially, Eli is released and we still don’t know, as yet, whether he is alive or dead. As you’ve noted many of the hostages are thought, or known, to be dead.
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“This moment is all that we’ve thought about for the last 14 or 15 months. It’s been the one chink of light in this whole nightmare. After the loss of my sister and nieces, the prospect of Eli coming back alive and, for us to be able to help him rebuild his life has been the thing that has kept me going and has nourished me throughout all of these dark times.
“I think I felt that perhaps I would feel more of a feeling of elation and excitement than I do, but I think that’s because of my experience of the last 12, 15 months has taught me to not get excited until there’s something to get excited about. I’m cautiously optimistic, warily excited. But the flip side of that is because we still don’t know whether Eli is alive or dead, the prospect of him coming out in a week two, three, four, five, six weeks, we just don’t know.
“We still don’t know whether that’s going to be the joyous occasion of him walking to freedom or the flip side of simply having a body to bury. So it does temper the excitement, considerably. But it is the moment that we’ve been waiting for. So I’m trying to allow myself permission to enjoy that to at least one degree.
“The one and only piece of information we have ever had was in the start of November 2023, which was when Israeli authorities confirmed to us that Eli had been taken hostage and he was taken alive as a hostage. His kidnapping was not witnessed by anyone so we have no first-hand knowledge and the fear has always been that even if, the start of November 2023, he was alive, that’s a long time ago now.
“He’s been in Lord only knows what conditions in the Gaza tunnels. We know that they’ve been starved, dehydrated, injured, ill and mistreated, tortured. We just don’t know how he will be six months ago, let alone 14, 15 months on from from being taken if he’s still alive, physically, mentally.
“The excitement about the possibility of a release is also tempered by the fact that a release will simply be the end of one horrific chapter. His recovery and rehabilitation is going to be something that’s going to dominate the rest of his life.” For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here
Mr Brisleysaid he has had to make plans over what to do. “I’ve already made provisional, plans. The plans are in place so that when we essentially get the knowledge that he’s being released, then I will go to Israel. It’s always been my my position that when he was released, I would go to Israel to either hug him and welcome him home or to or to bury him,” he said in the interview.
“Obviously, I’m desperately hoping that it’s it’s the former but, we still don’t know exactly.” Mr Brisley said because of a staggered release plan “it is going to be a continued torture for the next week to six weeks”.
Mr Brisley went on to describe the entire war as “a tragedy”. “Nobody has won anything from this war. I mean, both sides are claiming victory. I see no victory from either side. Thousands and thousands of people have died. Gaza is in ruins. It is going to take two or three decades to rebuild and everywhere you look, in every single day of the last 15 months, you see tragedy on both sides of the border. I have a perhaps naive hope that this might be the last war.”
Asked how he sees the future, he said. “I’m not a political expert. It seems to me that a two-state solution is the only way forward. It’s what that looks like. What I do know from my sister, from Eli, all the people that live on that kibbutz and the vast majority of people in Israel and I would imagine the vast majority of the people in Gaza and Palestine, what they want is just to live their lives like normal people.
“My sister was a dental nurse. Eli is a businessman. My nieces were in school. They mirror the lives of the vast majority of normal, innocent Palestinians.
“Everyone on each side of the border, barring an unreasonable minority, want peace in the region, just want to live their lives. It’s up to the international community to make sure that happens. This has to be treated as an opportunity, and a statement has to be made that this is the last time that this can happen. Exactly the mechanics of that will be for more intelligent people than me to sort out. It may be a slightly you take a utopian view, but there has to be peace in the region and this, this feels like the window of opportunity across the region to make that happen.”