One man’s mission to get his brothers back from Gaza

It took ten days following the October 7 terror released on southern Israel by Hamas gunmen for Liran Berman to confirm that his twin brothers had been kidnapped from their home.

Ziv and Gali Berman lived in their own apartment in the youth neighbourhood of Kfar Aza where there was fighting for several days before Israeli soldiers regained control on the border. 

“During those days there was a lot of chaos,” says Liran. “We had to sort out the corpses, some burnt, and identify bodies, some without heads, so it took days to establish that they were not amongst the dead.” Intelligence later confirmed that the 26-year-old twins had been taken captive in Gaza.

Liran, 36, formerly worked at a leisure centre in the north of Israel conducting classes for adults with special needs. But, for the past 100 days, campaigning to secure the release of his brothers has been his full-time job. “I’m doing this 24/7.”

He is in London this week, alongside others who have loved ones still being held captive in Gaza, urging the British government to use its links with Qatar to put pressure on it to, in turn, persuade Hamas to release remaining hostages. 

His visit comes amid estimates that some 130 hostages are still being held in Gaza. A total of 110 were released in return for 240 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons, as part of a week-long truce at the end of November. Several attempts at a ceasefire since then have failed.

Aside from taking hostages, Hamas’s October 7 attack killed at least 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials. And Israel’s resulting offensive in Gaza, now approaching its fourth month, has killed at least 25,400 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-governed territory.

While some families have been sent photos by Hamas of their loved ones, Liran has received no visual confirmation of his brothers’ presence inside the enclave. But released hostages have told his family that they saw them. “They said that my brothers were separated early on but they are both alive, with minor injuries. Though we don’t know their conditions now.”

Did these reports from other hostages make him more hopeful? Yes and no. “It gives me hope to know that they are alive but other stories I heard from the hostages of what they went through have made my nights even more sleepless.”

Not just the conditions in the tunnels but also the psychological warfare. “Other hostages say Hamas told them: ‘we conquered the whole of Israel following October 7 and you will remain here for the rest of life and die here’”. Liran wonders if his brothers think that their family is dead. 

Liran didn’t travel to London alone this week. He is here with Ziv Abud, the girlfriend of 26-year-old Eliya Cohen who was kidnapped at the NOVA festival in Re’im, and Ali Albag, father of Liri Albag, an 18-year-old woman who was kidnapped from a bomb shelter near the border. We know nothing about Eliya’s condition or his whereabouts since he was kidnapped. There were some photographs taken of Liri 50 days ago but there have been no sightings or knowledge about her condition or whereabouts since then. 

Their visit to London is of strategic importance to their campaign due to the extensive assets owned by Qatar in the UK. Doha’s business interests in the UK make it Britain’s tenth largest landowner, with more assets than the Royal family. 

All three believe that Qatar could play a critical role in securing the release of their loved ones.

“During the first deal to release hostages, we realised that Qatar is the key player. Egypt had a role but limited leverage,” says Liran. 

At the moment, Qatar plays on both sides of the field. “On the one hand, they are hosting and paying Hamas, hosting its senior leadership in Doha and paying them hundreds of millions of dollars every year, and, on the other, they are invested majorly in Europe and in the UK especially, they are buying up football teams and hotels.”

While this middle ground is what allows the Qataris to be useful mediators, Liran now wants to put pressure on them to take a tougher stance with Hamas. 

“If Iran decided the hostages should be released and spoke to Hamas, then the hostages would be released, but no-one can speak to Iran. Yet we do have Qatar. And it has influence on the Hamas leadership too.”

Why would Hamas listen? Because it couldn’t function properly without the money it receives from Qatar, says Liran. The kind of money that has heavily funded the underground tunnel network of Gaza. The Qataris could also, he suggests, tell Hamas’s senior leadership that it will no longer host them in Doha unless they release the hostages. 

While the efforts of Liran, Ziv and Ali in London this week are focussed on exerting pressure on Qatar, other Israelis with family members held captive in Gaza have been demanding this week that their own government does more to secure the release of their loved ones.  

On Monday, some 20 family members of hostages stormed a parliamentary meeting in Jerusalem, chanting “Release them now, now, now!”. 

The joint action came a day after reports that Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had rejected conditions proposed by Hamas for a permanent ceasefire. 

Hamas is demanding a permanent halt to fighting, a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners.

Netanyahu – who has vowed to keep fighting in Gaza until Hamas is completely eradicated – has been criticised for rejecting the deal. International critics voice growing fears over the spiralling humanitarian crisis for Palestinian civilians in the strip while domestic critics demand that he prioritises the plight of hostages over Israel’s war objective of destroying Hamas. 

Even Gadi Eisenkot, a member of Netanyahu’s own war cabinet, warned in a televised interview that a complete victory over Hamas in Gaza is unrealistic, adding that the only way to save hostages is through a deal, even if it comes at a price. 

“Whoever speaks of the absolute defeat [of Hamas] is not speaking the truth,” said Eisenkot, whose 25-year-old son and 19-year-old nephew both died fighting in Gaza back in December.

Unlike the family members of hostages storming parliament earlier this week, Liran does not voice any direct criticism of his own government. “There are a lot of variants going into their decision-making. I think, I hope, that they are doing what they can.”

Though on what terms would he support a ceasefire? 

“Any ceasefire,” he says, if it meant getting his brothers back. 

“I will give whatever it takes. Our life stopped on October 7. Whatever deal is on the table, please make it so we can continue with our lives.”

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