CGTN Europe speaks to Efrat Machikawa, niece of the 80-year-old Gadi Moses held by Hamas in Gaza, to get her reaction to the announced hostage and ceasefire deal.
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00:00Efrat Moshikawa is the niece of one of the hostages being held by Hamas at Gadim Moses.
00:05I asked for her reaction to the ceasefire deal.
00:09As optimistic as I am, I was very, very hopeful.
00:13But we have learned very, very sad lessons over this one year and three months.
00:19And we know that talks are just talks and we are waiting for real deeds.
00:25And as I said, see them here in Israel.
00:29So your uncle is one of the people who is still hostage.
00:33What's it been living without him and with the uncertainty around what's been happening to him?
00:38We really do not know how he is.
00:41And this is what's sad and this is why joy is also mixed with fear and being so scary.
00:49The last thing we heard of him was in December 19, 2023.
00:54And he is has turned 80 in captivity in March.
01:01He will be 81. So he is a very old man.
01:05And we have no idea how he is doing.
01:09Some of your other family members were also taken hostage, weren't they?
01:13And freed much earlier on. How are they doing now?
01:17It's very different because, you know, they came back in November
01:20and we are so grateful for having them here.
01:25There are good days and there are bad days.
01:29They're very, very brave, but they feel part of their hearts is still in Gaza with everybody else.
01:37It's very hard to describe to people who are so far from the situation.
01:43But as you just mentioned, it's very, very different to long
01:48for somebody who has not been with us for so such a period.
01:52So I think that there are so many other strange feelings going on.
01:59It's almost hard to describe.
02:02They are dealing with it daily and they're doing their best,
02:07but they will be over only after everybody is back.
02:13So this is obviously something that's still happening now.
02:16But I wonder if you're able to think about the future and your hopes for that time,
02:20what it might look like. I would love to share with you.
02:23I'm really, really glad this war will, I hope, be over for both sides.
02:29I think it was devastating and I think that we will have to learn lessons.
02:37We will have to make sure to secure our border,
02:41but at the same time, try to make this region more hopeful and collaborate in a way
02:50that each one of us can concentrate on life rather than death,
02:55concentrate on growth rather than revenge.
02:59And it's very difficult to imagine because the story has not come to an end.
03:07But deep, deep inside, I really do keep that sparkle that life shall overcome the darkness.