Israelis stop hostage clock after last remains come home

TEL AVIV — The stopwatch that has haunted a square in Tel Aviv by counting every fretful second since Hamas kidnapped 251 Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, was shut off Tuesday night in a solemn ceremony attended by hundreds of people.

After 843 days and 12 hours, Israelis in “Hostages Square” marked the end of a crisis, opening a new chapter in a shaky ceasefire between the Israeli military and Hamas militants that has managed to endure for nearly four months.

“We are here on a day we prayed for since Oct. 7 for 844 days. The clock kept running, counting every day, every minute, every second,” said Malki Shem-Tov, the father of former captive Omer Shem-Tov, who spoke from the podium below the frozen clock. “Since our worlds stopped on Oct. 7, we never imagined that clock would reach three digits. Thank God we can finally stop counting.”

The clock was officially retired a day after Israeli soldiers recovered the body of Ran Gvili, a young police officer who was killed on Oct. 7 and whose body was that of the last remaining hostage in Gaza.

Now, for the first time since 2014, there are no Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said.

“An entire nation is breathing an enormous sigh of relief tonight,” he said at an event in Jerusalem on Monday alongside the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee. “True healing for our nation can begin now.”

Even now that the clock has stopped counting, it’s unclear what will happen to “Hostages Square” or the political movement that spawned amid its tent encampments of hostages’ families, nourished by the constant glare of the Israeli and international media.

The square, which sits beneath the high-rise Kirya building, the home of Israel’s defense establishment, gave hostages’ families and activists a weekly pulpit from which to demand that Israel’s government bring the hostages home, even if it meant compromises with Hamas. Major foreign and domestic television news networks, including NBC News, hosted prime-time shows from pavilions on the square.

“This all started out about advocating for what people thought was right and justice for these hostages,” Hannah Bartel, 27, a New York native who is a youth programs coordinator at Young Judea, a Zionist youth movement, said at the event. “Holding on to that hope that we’ll find some way to all live together, I think that’s what Israelis need to do right now.”

Whether the square will keep its name is still uncertain. Activists who were close to the hostages’ families throughout the ordeal said they didn’t know what the square will be called. There has been some talk among the families of changing its name to “Returnees’ Square,” but arriving at a final name is already a topic of municipal debate.

“We will soon form a committee to review all initiatives and ideas regarding the square,” said Itay Waldman, a spokesperson for the Tel Aviv municipality. “No decision has been made yet.”

Gvili’s return formally moves the Gaza ceasefire into its second phase, during which the Trump administration plans to focus on postwar governance, the enclave’s reconstruction and Hamas’ disarmament.

Unlike the first phase of the ceasefire, which ran on a timeline and included relatively clear steps, the terms of the second phase are still the subject of negotiations. Hamas has not agreed to any plans to disarm.

Despite the ceasefire, Gazans are suffering from pitiable conditions. Israeli attacks have killed nearly 500 people since the ceasefire went into effect in early October, according to Palestinian health officials in Gaza, nearly half of which is ruled by Hamas.

Most of the population lives in temporary housing, which consists of tents or partially destroyed buildings, both of which are vulnerable to foul winter weather.

Many among the hundreds of Israelis at Tuesday night’s event said they didn’t know whether the second phase of the ceasefire would ever be successful.

“The war, I don’t think it’s over. … I don’t think it’s ever over,” said Hadar Minard, 21, who said she was a volunteer. “We will always have a war to fight, but at least we know that this one has now ended.”