Families of Israeli hostages in Gaza call for their safe return

The families of seven Israeli hostages being held in Gaza have called for their release and safe return, at a press conference in London.

The father of a 19-year-old being held said "all suffering" would end "on both sides" if the hostages came home.

The families added that recent failures in negotiation talks between Israel and Hamas caused "despair and desperation".

Thursday marks five months since the conflict began when Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on 7 October.

Speaking at the Israeli embassy on Thursday, the father of Nimrod Cohen, a 19-year-old soldier taken hostage, said officials needed to move forwards with negotiations.

"Whatever agreement it will take, is what the government must do," Yehuda Cohen said.

Mr Cohen said that the families are "not making the terms" for negotiations, but added that "if 134 hostages will be returned from Gaza, back to Israel, all this suffering on both sides will end."

Around 1,200 people were killed and 253 hostages were taken when Hamas fighters stormed into a music festival in southern Israel on 7 October, according to Israeli tallies. More than 130 hostages are still believed to be held by Hamas.

More than 30,800 people have been killed in Gaza since then, the Hamas-run health ministry says.

Michael Levy's brother, Or, a software engineer, was at the music festival and was taken hostage after witnessing the murder of his wife Eynav.

Mr Levy said their two-year-old son, Almog, has been left without either of his parents and cries whenever he hears the words "mummy and daddy."

He added that he thought there should be an exchange of hostages, but said it was Hamas that needed to be asked about the suffering of the Palestinians civilians.

"We hate to see anyone suffer, Israelis or Palestinians... We do not hate anyone, we just want to get our loved ones back," he said.

Orit Meir, whose 21-year-old son Almog Meir was also kidnapped from the music festival, said she was beginning to lose hope.

"I think my government must do everything to bring them back, even if it's at a cost," she said.

"They have to bring them back at any price," she added.

On Thursday morning, a Hamas delegation left Cairo, where it had hoped to achieve a breakthrough in negotiations towards a ceasefire deal.

Egyptian and Qatari mediators in Cairo struggled to seal a deal that would see Hamas free Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Israel reportedly demanded a list of the surviving hostages who could be released under the agreement., but did not send a delegation to Cairo.

It had been hoped that a 40-day ceasefire agreement could be reached before the start of the Islamic month of Ramadan this week.

During a week-long ceasefire in late November, 105 hostages - most of them women and children - were freed in return for some 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.