An Israeli man whose cousin was executed in Gaza after being held captive for 11 months partly blames the Israeli government for her death because it failed to agree previous ceasefire and hostage release deals.
Gil Dickmann's comments come after three hostages were freed yesterday as part of the first phase of a deal between Hamas and Israel.
Speaking to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Dickmann said he was "so happy" about the three women being released, but added it was bittersweet because his cousin "Carmel should have been" part of the same release.
"They’re heroes for surviving in such horrible conditions," he said of the three released hostages - Romi Gonen; Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher.
Mr Dickman had five family members taken in the 7 October Hamas attack.
His aunt was killed and other family members kidnapped in the attack on Kibbutz Be’eri on 7 October.
Two of his relatives escaped, and his cousin's wife, Yarden Roman Gat, was released in November after 54 days.
After surviving 11 months in Hamas captivity, his cousin Carmel was killed in a tunnel in Gaza just before Israeli forces arrived in 2024.
Her body and those of five fellow hostages were recovered by Israeli troops on 1 September.
"Carmel should have been in the same car with them coming back from captivity," he said.
"There was a chance to get them all back and Israel missed it"
Mr Dickmann blamed Hamas for executing his cousin but apportioned some responsibility to the Israeli government for her death, and the deaths of other hostages, after previous ceasefire deals failed.
"We missed the chance when we didn't sign a deal in time," he said.
"Hamas murdered her [Carmel] and Hamas terrorists were the ones who pulled the trigger and killed her.
"There's no there's no way around that," he added.
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Israel missed chance to 'get them all back'
"But I totally blame my government. My government was in charge of actually making the deal in time.
"There was a chance to get them all back and Israel missed it.
"The deal that is underway right now is the very same deal. The only difference is that hostages died in the meantime, and that Donald Trump is now president elect and about to be president," Mr Dickmann said.
He said the soon to be inaugurated Mr Trump was the reason the current hostage deal happened.
"He’s the reason why this deal is finally signed.
"So, the hostages have him to thank. And I am blaming my own government, that it didn't happen in time," said Mr Dickmann.
Mr Dickmann said that he is optimistic about further hostage releases but has concerns about how things will progress in the second phase of the ceasefire and hostage release deal.
"I'm optimistic that we're going to see more hostages released in the next few days.
"We're supposed to see another bunch of hostages on Saturday, but I'm very worried for the second phase of the deal," he said.
"The first phase of the deal contains 33 hostages and … there are 94 hostages in captivity, not 30, 64 hostages are supposed to be a part of the second and third phase.
"I think the fact that we started today is a good sign for this (first) phase.
"But what I'm most concerned for is the fact that on the 16th day we're starting the negotiation for the second phase and that’s way too late," he said, adding it took months to get to this stage of the current deal.
Mr Dickmann said the current deal "could collapse at every moment".
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Families putting trust in President-elect Trump
He added that hostage families are happy for other hostage families and for the hostages that are released, but "they're also very concerned, very concerned, that we're just gonna stop after Phase 1".
He added families are "putting their trust in Donald Trump".
"Many of us were frightened when Donald Trump got elected. We really had no idea what he was going to do," he said.
"He's sort of a wild card for us, but when he came to power, was just President-elect … things started to change," he said.
"I think the hostages and the hostage families have Donald Trump to thank, and they will be fully thankful only once he finishes what he started and when he gets all the hostages back," he said.
"I think the people of Israel trust Trump more than they trust Netanyahu, they put their trust in him that he will put an end to this and bring all the hostages home," Mr Dickmann said.
