As negotiations continue for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, in which half of the remaining 50 hostages are expected to return to Israel over 60 days, families of those still being held are  waiting to learn if their loved ones will be among those coming home soon. About 20 of the hostages are thought to be alive, but the families of the 30 others are also hoping to have a measure of closure, with their loved ones’ remains returned to be buried in Israel.

Rabbi Doron Perez told Jewish Insider that this period, in which there is constant discussion of a possible deal with hostages’ bodies returned to Israel, “is very nerve-wracking. … It aggravates the wound.”

His son Daniel was a 22-year-old officer in the IDF armored corps on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel. For five months, the family thought Daniel had been kidnapped, before learning that he had been killed on the day of the terrorist attacks and his body taken to Gaza.

When there is no talk of negotiations, Perez said, “You start thinking again, ‘Where is Daniel? Where is his body? Where is he being held?’ Some were found in cemeteries, some in tunnels, some in cupboards. You try to put it out of your mind, the vivid thoughts of where he may be, but [news about negotiations] brings it up again.”

Yafa Rudaeff is the wife of Lior Rudaeff, who was 61 years old and a member of the emergency squad in Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, where they lived. He was killed by terrorists on Oct. 7 while defending the kibbutz; his body was taken to Gaza. He is survived by his wife, their four children and three grandchildren.

Rudaeff described the constant news about hostage talks to JI as emotionally wrenching. “It’s a roller coaster; sometimes yes, sometimes no,” she said. “It’s crazy.”  

She was skeptical even as she called for a deal that would bring home all of the hostages.

“I live near the Gaza border, I hear what happens every evening [in Gaza] and wake up every morning to hear of another soldier killed,” she said. “I think that the best thing would be to get them all out in a deal so no more soldiers are killed.” 

Rudaeff called for all of the living hostages to be released as soon as possible: “You cannot divide them. There is no one hostage whose situation is better or worse after so much time. They must all come home now.”

Perez said that the families of living hostages are going through “unimaginable suffering” and that he is praying for them, but he emphasized that it is important that the bodies not be left for the end, “because then you’ll never know if you’ll get them back.”

He noted that negotiations take a different view of living and deceased hostages. 

“For a body, [Israel] gives something appropriate for a body, not a live, murderous terrorist,” he said, referring to some of the Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for living hostages. “It’s not bodies [of hostages] returning in place of those alive.”  

In the past Israel has exchanged live terrorists for soldiers, such as in 2008, when it gave up five Hezbollah terrorists, including the infamous Samir Kuntar, who murdered Israeli children, in exchange for the bodies of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. 

Even if a temporary deal is reached, only half of the remaining hostages would be freed. Perez said that “in an ideal world, I would hope and pray that they can all come out, but I don’t think that is going to happen … because I don’t think Israel and Hamas can see eye-to-eye over what is considered the end of the conflict.” 

But he is hoping for some degree of closure if Daniel’s body is returned.

“As a parent of someone deceased, you know the best you can hope for is to get a body back in a coffin,” he said. “There is no joy. … It is looking forward to something painful, which is an unusual thing, but it’s the end to an ongoing saga.”

Perez said his family is relatively lucky because they have a gravesite to visit, which they find to be “very meaningful.” Daniel’s bloodied uniform was found and buried, because under Jewish law all parts of the body, including any blood found, must be interred. 

“There is a measure of comfort in that,” he said. “We don’t have a body, but we have a place. For people who don’t have a grave, it’s even worse. They have nowhere to go to pay respects.”

Rudaeff, however, has no gravesite for her husband. “We had a parting ceremony, but we haven’t really parted from him. We don’t have anything tangible.” she said. “I’m not delusional; I don’t think he’ll return, but we need the closure to successfully move forward.”

“This situation is not natural in any way,” she added.

Rudaeff expressed concern that her husband’s body will not be found “after all of the destruction in Gaza.” 

She said the families of the deceased hostages “want to be able to end this chapter and start building something else without our loved ones. Now, we can’t do anything; we don’t know how to behave. To successfully rise up from this situation, we have to end it.”

Shlomi Nahumson, CEO of the IDF Widows and Orphans Organization, has been advocating for Rudaeff, whose husband is considered an IDF fallen because he was in the emergency squad, and five others widowed on Oct. 7 whose husbands remain in Gaza. There have been 317 new IDF widows and 735 new orphans since Oct. 7. 

“These men put everything on the line to protect our future,” Nahumson said. “But until they can lay their loved ones to rest, they remain trapped in a tormenting state of uncertainty. It is imperative that we bring all their loved ones home — so that these families can find closure and begin to heal.” 

Perez, who serves as the executive director of the World Mizrachi movement, said that in the nearly two years of advocating for his son’s return, he has seen that some cultures do not value the sanctity of a body after death, and he has had to explain this Jewish value to ambassadors and heads of state.

“I often quote Deuteronomy 21:24, which says you are not allowed to leave a body hanging, because it has the curse of God on it,” he said. “Our sages say the body has the image of God, a soul. A human body is not just a physical entity; it was infused during its life with something godly, soulful, beyond the physical world.”

“By not respecting the body, you are not respecting life, because a body is a receptacle of life, a fusion between heaven and earth. If you leave a body hanging, it is sacrilege … The desecration of the human body is a desecration of God’s name and the spirit and value of life,” he added.

A group of House members introduced legislation on Friday that aims to bolster efforts by Holocaust survivors’ families to reclaim or receive recompense for art stolen from their relatives during World War II, addressing issues in past legislation that have hampered repatriation efforts in the courts.

Identical legislation was recently introduced in the Senate by Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). The House bill is being sponsored by Reps. Laurel Lee (R-FL), Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI), Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Maggie Goodlander (D-NH).

The new bill, the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (HEAR) Act Improvements of 2025, aims to fill gaps left by the original HEAR Act, passed in 2016. The legislation eliminates a time limit included in the original bill that led some courts to dismiss suits filed under the original law. It also extends the law in perpetuity, beyond its original 2026 expiration date.

The bill also specifically addresses issues raised in recent Supreme Court cases, in which the court has ruled against the families of Holocaust survivors, stating that, “in order to effectuate the purpose of the Act to permit claims to recover Nazi-looted art to be resolved on the merits, these defenses must be precluded.”

The new bill aims to ensure that the defenses used in those cases cannot be applied going forward, and aims to ensure that such cases are not thrown out or defeated on technicalities.

“The Nazi regime stole not only lives but legacies, including cultural and family treasures that carry deep personal and historical meaning,” Lee said in a statement. “This bill ensures that families who lost everything during the Holocaust are given a fair shot at justice. These claims should be decided on the truth, not on legal loopholes or paperwork deadlines. With this legislation, we reaffirm our commitment to standing with Holocaust survivors and their families. They deserve to have their stories heard and their property returned. It’s never too late to do the right thing.”

Nadler, a lead sponsor of the original HEAR Act said, “As a matter of principle, we affirm that in the United States, everyone who has a credible claim deserves to have their day in court. This bill realizes that principle and ensures that every family has the right to a fair and just process based solely on the merits of their claim. We cannot fix the past, but this bill is a promise to the victims of the Holocaust that the United States is committed to creating a fair judicial process for the return of property that was wrongfully stolen during the darkest period of human history.”

David Schaecter, a Holocaust survivor and president of Holocaust Survivors Foundation USA, said, “To allow museums here and in Europe, and foreign governments to keep Nazi looted art perpetuates the crimes of the Nazi regime, and demeans the memory of six million Jewish souls.  We applaud Congress for making sure that families can recover their treasured legacies, and that the true history of the Nazis’ brutal campaign of murder and theft cannot be erased or trivialized by the scoundrels who refuse to return looted art.”

Gideon Taylor, the president of the World Jewish Restitution Organization, said that reclaiming these stolen belongings “is not simply about returning possessions; it is about restoring history, identity, and a measure of justice to those who lost everything.”

Joel Greenberg, president of Art Ashes, which helps fund the recovery of Nazi-looted art, said the legislation “renews and strengthens the HEAR Act, which is set to expire, by closing critical loopholes and addressing key oversights.”

“It reaffirms our commitment to ensuring that rightful owners of Nazi-looted art — and their families — receive the restitution they are owed,” Greenberg continued. “Any museum that knowingly retains stolen works is complicit in perpetuating the injustice inflicted on Holocaust victims. We have both a moral and legal obligation to correct these wrongs and to ensure the crimes of the Holocaust are neither forgiven nor forgotten.”

The legislation is supported by around two dozen Jewish and pro-Israel organizations.