Family of Israeli hostage Carmel Gat: 'Time to try something else' to reach 'humanitarian deal'

Intro stay with us Iris I want to cross 60 kmet from you go to Tel AV I want to bring in Maya Roman Maya thank you for talking to us here on France 24 your cousin yarden Roman Gat was held hostage for 54 days I know Maya you have another family member still held by Hamas in Gaza this is 39-year-old carel gat the news today of the evacuations from Rafa the operation going on let's start with Thoughts on developments your thought and how you view these developments um we are very concerned you know the families we've been at this for over six months and we've seen negotiations go well and not go well um we were very hopeful uh it seemed like the negotiation was going strong uh a couple of days ago and now to see things blow up is um is quite a blow to the families especially on this day where a lot of us are descendants of Holocaust Survivors so it's it's a tough day for us generally and and knowing that our loved ones aren't here and we don't know if they're coming back makes it even harder um the you know we we were quite optimistic uh it seemed as though uh our government and uh Hamas were able to try and find some uh middle ground and then uh both we saw this attack from RAF and our government's insistence that we must go in and both of these developments are are very bad for us and for the hostages and um we are still trying to fight to make sure that people go back to the negotiation table and not give up uh on our loved ones who have been there for over six months and um we don't know what they've been going through when you listen to the government continued Military pressure narrative from Benjamin Netanyahu from spokes people people like MK regev who say without pressing without the offensive we wouldn't have seen the first truce happen their argument is by putting on um a solid hard pressured military offensive that's forcing Hamas to the table where do you stand on that argument I think it's true to some degree I think that uh we did see that the initial military pressure was very crucial in getting the first hostage deal uh I don't think there are a lot of people who can um object to that we saw that the pressure was very crucial in making sure the hostages were not taken outside of Gaza and in making sure that Kamas and sinir are willing to come to the table because this is a terror organization sinir you know is known as the butcher from Kanan yunas is a very cruel person he does not care about the lives of his people he doesn't care about the lives of our people and so I do believe the military pressure has some role to play uh however I think we're in a different situation right now 6 months afterwards uh partly because of the international pressure um to uh to give up the war and again Sino and Kamas are seeing this and are aware of this so the the military pressure it plays a role but it can't be the only pressure point that we're using and at this point in time uh though I'm not an exper in the field it seems as though um it's time to to try something else uh we're not sure that going into RAF is going to help bring back our loved ones alive um at the same time we're dealing with an irrational terrorist organization so it's very hard to know what will work best um yeah yeah can I ask about your personal situation because your family it was devastating what happened at kibot B you had a Proof of life family member killed you had one well your cousin yarden she was released after 54 days and now Carell at 39-year-old yoga instructor who I believe was visiting the Kuts at the time she's still held do you have any idea from a proof of Life of how she might be the situation um the last we know of caramel is during the initial hostage deal to teenagers who were released told us they were held with her um and so they were able to tell us that she is alive um however they also told us that they were held under quite difficult physical conditions that they experienced uh some abuse and um they told us that Carmel helped them she taught them yoga she taught them meditation uh she made them keep a journal she really helped them you know keep their mental health and and and be able to survive what was happening to them uh and then during the first deal uh they were released they were taken out they didn't know that they were being taken to be released and she didn't know that as well um and so they were just taken and she was left there alone um so we are we're very worried um again we're very grateful to know that she was alive and that she was herself that she was helping people she's a caretaker she's I'm sure it helped her to have those uh teenagers there to to help them um and the thought of her alone as one of the last remaining women in captivity for so long is really devastating you know yarden who came back told us and keeps telling us how hard just mentally the experience is of and she was just just there for two months and and she's still dealing with the ramifications of being watched 247 and having no agency and no control and no idea if someone is going to attack you or what they're going to do to you for so long it really stays with you and so when we think about what Carmel has gone through for the past six months um it's devastating and um you know it's going to be her 40th birthday uh on the 16th of May um and we were all praying that she will be here by then um and right now it doesn't seem very hopeful that she will um and so yeah it's very it's very hard but we're trying to to stay strong and do everything we can to make sure people don't forget her and uh help us bring them all home does it give you any more hope that perhaps she may have been or be amongst the 33 around roughly a third Hopes for deal of the hostages that according to the leak document of the draft potential ceasefire deal they would be released perhaps KL could be amongst them how do you see those talks at the moment do do you have hopes that they could succeed despite this on andof difficulties of them of course you know we even during the first initial talks we knew that jarden for example was not meant to be among those released first and still we were for the deal uh because we feel that even an incremental deal is the best way forward it's been the best way to release uh the most hostages so far and so we feel that that's the only way to go forward of course uh we're hoping that carel will be among the first 33 released but also we are in this fight for the for the families for the hostages and we are in it until every single one comes back we have all become extremely close all of us um family members and so we're in this even if carel comes back first uh until every last one is back we do believe the best way to do that is through uh a deal and through starting uh with the humanitarian deal and then uh continuing with the rest of the steps of the deal I still hope that we can that it can be achieved but it will require pressure on both Hamas and our government and we are working in in every Arena to make sure that we that we do everything we can Maya Iris ma is listening very briefly Iris for the time that we have um just to put put us into the picture of where we are with the talks and you know are they over have they stumbled and stalled it depends who you listen to um I have heard both views yes they've stumbled uh no they haven't and then there's a blame game starting Hamas saying it's Israel's fault Israel saying it's obviously hamas's fault everybody obviously blaming the other uh I have to say one thing about Benjamin Netanyahu if you're a political leader uh in a democracy not a dictatorship and you're in a war you must have the trust of the people that you're acting in their best interests and now after six months of this war we see an increasing number of people not satisfied it is great to talk to Iris MAA our correspondent and Maya thank you so much for speaking to us here on France 24 R Maya Roman we hope to speak to you again with better news ahead stay with us here on France 24 we'll be back in just a moment [Music]