After 15 months of war, the homes of Israeli hostages are like time capsules of a war zone. There’s a small blue bicycle flung to the ground outside the house of the Bibas family — all of whom, including two young boys Kfir and Ariel, are still in captivity. Nearby, the walls of Oded Lifshitz’s home are singed, the ceilings have partially collapsed, scars of the initial Hamas attack Oct. 7, 2023, in which the elderly man and his wife, Yocheved, were abducted.
Portraits of the hostages have been affixed to the doors of their homes. Someone has laid a sunflower next to a photo of David Cunio, who remains in Gaza after his wife and twin girls were released in a hostage exchange a year ago..
Many are marked by graffiti left by Israeli forces during the days or sometimes weeks of fighting that followed the militants’ attack, to show houses cleared of fighters. Some are marked for eventual demolition because they are extensively damaged.
One hundred hostages remain in Gaza, at least...
