Israeli woman speaks about young family still held hostage in Gaza: 'It's psychological torture'
Yifat Zailer, a relative of one of the youngest Israeli hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip, said Tuesday that she has yet to hear whether her missing family members will be among those released by Hamas as part of the truce.
"The pain of not having them back yet is incredible. Tomorrow is the last day of this deal of cease-fire and we are very concerned," Zailer told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in an interview on "Good Morning America."
Zailer said there has been no word from Israeli officials or others on whether her loved ones will be included in the prisoner swap with Hamas. The last thing she heard about her missing relatives was in a recent statement released by the Israel Defense Forces that stated there was a possibility of another Palestinian militant group holding them hostage.
"We are completely at loss," she said. "We don't know about their condition, we don't know if they're still alive even and it’s unbearable. They promised in this deal they signed, all the sides, that all mothers and children are supposed to be released."
"Prisoners are being released," she noted. "Where's my family?"
Four of Zailer's relatives -- her 32-year-old cousin Shiri Babas, Shiri's 34-year-old husband Yarden and the couple's children, 4-year-old Ariel and 10-month-old Kfir -- were kidnapped from their kibbutz in southern Israel during Hamas' attack on Oct. 7 and taken hostage to Gaza. Zailer said she doesn't understand why they -- especially the baby -- are still being held hostage and wondered whether it was for "leverage."
"Kfir is going to be 11 months [old] soon. He was kidnapped when he was 9 [months old]. We don't know how he's being fed," she told ABC News. "Why aren't they on any list? Every night we receive that phone call that they're not coming back tomorrow is torture -- it's psychological torture."
When asked whether she would support a deal for Israel to release all of its Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the hostages in Gaza, Zailer said: "That's a really hard question, but I must say I am."
"All those hostages are fathers, mothers, injured people and, of course, my family members as well among them," she continued. "So there's no price for our loved ones."
Zailer said she wants the world to know that her captive relatives "are and always were people of peace" and "innocent civilians."
"My uncle raised his daughter to love who's different from her," she added. "She's an incredible mother, her husband is an incredible father."
-ABC News' Morgan Winsor
