Homecoming In 'hostages square', joy is met with cautious hope

The estimated 65,000 people in “hostages square” in Tel Aviv heard it before they saw it. Their faces turned up to search the sky for the source of the sound. Then it swept into view from the west, from the direction of Gaza.

- By Daniel Boffey TEL AVIV

A helicopter, military brown, was on the way to Ichilov hospital a few hundred metres away. But it diverted, circled around the crowd and then tilted to its right, in an apparent salute to the cheering, smiling faces below.

At the door of the helicopter, the keen-eyed will have seen what appeared to be one of the final 20 live hostages released that morning after two years in Hamas captivity. He used his hands to make a shape: a heart.

About eight helicopters in all swept by, each received a raucous cheer on what was certainly a highly emotional day for Israel. The square has been the centre of the campaign to bring the hostages home. The question now facing Israel is whether the release can lead to a lasting peace with Palestine.

“I always say that I hope so, you know, but this neighbourhood is not so much friendly,” said Ayelet Lantzer, 63. Lantzer grew up in Nir Oz, less than 7km away from Gaza. It was here Hamas took seven hostages on 7 October, of whom six came home alive on Monday as part of Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan. The seventh, Arie Zalmanowicz, 85, died in captivity.

Since the first week of the war, Lantzer had organised for a permanent encampment on the square, as part of an attempt to keep pressure on the Israeli government to prioritise the release of those taken.