‘Emotional rollercoaster’: Cousin of hostages awaits possible release 

(NewsNation) — Four of Omer Lubaton Granot’s relatives were kidnapped by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 and have been held hostage since.

Two other of Granot’s family members were killed by Hamas during the attack.

Granot learned about the new hostage release and cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas like everybody else: through the media. He explained it’s hard to always trust what is being said, especially in a period dominated by misinformation.

With that being said, Granot said he is eagerly waiting for Thursday to see if any of his four family members will be included in the hostage release.

“We understand that there are security measures that need to be taken. So we’re eagerly waiting. We have patience, and we want to see it happening,” he said.

Granot said he has not heard anything directly from the Israeli government on the hostage release, nor have they given any information on which hostages are expected to be released. All that he knows is that the media has reported women and children will be among the hostages released on Thursday.

On Oct. 7, Granot’s cousin Chen Goldstein Almog, 48, became a hostage, widow and bereaved mother when Hamas militants stormed her community. Hamas militants killed her husband, Nadav Goldstein, and oldest daughter, Yam Goldstein, in their home and took Chen Goldstein Almog and her three other children — Agam Almog Goldstein, 17; Gal Goldstein Almog, 11 and Tal Goldstein Almog, 9 — captive.

There were initial rumors that all six had been killed, but a few days later, the Israeli government informed their extended family that the four were being held in Gaza, Granot said.

Since then, Granot and his family have been working hard to bring them home. The frustrating part for Granot is that they still haven’t received any proof of life or any updates on his family’s whereabouts, despite demanding it from Hamas, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Israeli government.

“We tried to reach out to whoever we could, but we didn’t get any message. We hope and believe that they’re alive, and hope to see them home,” Granot said.

He continued, “It’s an emotional roller coaster.”

Granot said he believes this is all part of what Hamas is trying to do — use psychological warfare on Israelis.

All Granot said they can do at the moment is hope that all four of his family members being held hostage are released Thursday.

But even if all 50 hostages who are expected to be released are in fact returned home, there are still about 190 hostages being held captive, Granot said.

“It will still be the greatest hostage crisis ever,” he said. “We will keep fighting and we will need to keep getting support from the international community.”