Speaking again the following day, after the news that the four bodies returned did not include Amiram’s, he described the experience as a “big rollercoaster”.
Mr Cooper said the return of his father’s body would allow him to have “some closure” and to “sleep better at night”.
“Everything has been on hold,” he said.
Ruby Chen, whose son Itay’s body remains in Gaza, said he had experienced a similar mix of emotions.
“We were overjoyed [on Monday] to see 20 hostages coming out and being reunited with their families, but we were very disappointed not to see more deceased hostages coming out,” he said in a video message shared with the BBC by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
“We request the Israeli government, the US and the mediators to continue the fight and put pressure on Hamas to adhere [to] and follow the agreement that was signed and bring back all the remaining 24 hostages in captivity,” Mr Chen added.
The Israeli military said on Tuesday that, following forensic tests, it had identified the four hostages whose bodies had been returned and had informed their families that their loved ones had been reburied.
It said they included Guy Iloz – who was shot at the Nova music festival and is believed to have died from the wounds – and Bipin Joshi, who it said was believed to have been “murdered in captivity during the first months of the war”.
Later the family of hostage Yossi Sharabi confirmed that his body had also been identified.