As 20 Israeli hostages returned home to tearful reunions, Colette Lipszyc — mourning her fallen cousin and clinging to hope —shares the collective relief felt across North Texas and the Jewish community in the wake of a historic Hamas prisoner release.

“The fact that 20 hostages came home is a miracle,” said Lipszyc. “It’s an absolute miracle.” 

Included in that group is Bar Kupershtein, whose father, Tal, was in Dallas last week to mark the somber occasion of two years gone by. 

“It’s bittersweet because when I watch those people reuniting with their families, and I see them, and it is so amazingly beautiful to see them with their families again, and I can’t stop crying because it is so beautiful,” Lipszyc said. “But it’s also heartbreaking to me for all the other families who are not going to get that opportunity to be reunited with the people they love.”

Bittersweet joy: 20 hostages reunited, but many families still waiting

Among them, Lipszyc and her family. Her cousin, 22-year-old Daniel Peretz, is a member of the Israeli army who was killed by Hamas two years ago while protecting one of four kibbutzes, a type of community in southern Israel that the terrorists attacked. His body is one of four that are supposed to be returned to his family on Monday.  

While two other soldiers in his unit were killed, another soldier who was taken hostage and survived, Matan Angrest, returned to Israel. 

While sitting between his parents on the helicopter back to Israel, Angrest wrote a message on a whiteboard he was holding, calling those in his unit, including Peretz, heroes and heroines. 

Lipszyc said it was a moment that overwhelmed her. 

“I think that’s when I realized that he, Daniel, was not coming back. I realized that he was not coming back alive, but that he was a hero and that he is going to be remembered as a hero, and Matan is back to tell his story. It was a message to say that he is thinking about the warriors that he fought with and just never forgetting them because these are the people who defended Israel. There are so many people who could have gotten murdered on October 7th if it hadn’t been for the members of the IDF that were there at the time.” 

Hope amid heartbreak and prayers for peace

One hope that Lipszyc and many others have now is that the remains of all the hostages who didn’t survive will be returned and that peace in the Middle East will last. 

“I’m just praying for peace,” Lipszyc said. “That’s all I can do. Hold onto that hope that October 7th will never happen again.”