Families of hostages taken by Hamas have welcomed the agreement to release some of those kidnapped over the coming days.
Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza for at least four days, to let in aid and release at least 50 hostages captured by militants in exchange for at least 150 Palestinians jailed in Israel.
Tomer Keshet's cousin Yarden Bibas was taken hostage with his wife Shiri and two children, three-year-old Ariel and nine-month old Kfir, from the Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel with as many as 70 other people.
He said he is optimistic about the release of the hostages that could see Shiri and the two young children returned home to Israel.
However, he said he realised his cousin, Mr Bibas, does not meet the criteria of hostages due to be released because he is a man.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, he said: "We are cautiously optimistic. We cannot fully or even partially trust Hamas as it performed great atrocities, and we know that nothing is final until they are here with us. We don't know if they are part of this deal – we only hope.
"If they are to be released then it means that Shiri and the two young children will come back. We'll be very happy.
"With their father we won't stop asking and pleading and telling anyone that can hear that he is still held hostage, he is still in captivity – a civilian taken from his home."
"It’s a joy mixed with tears and sadness. We want everyone to be back. The entire community wants to get their sons and daughters back … their mothers, their fathers, their brothers and sisters," Mr Keshet added.
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Meanwhile, the daughter of an 84-year-old Israeli woman who was taken during the Hamas attack on southern Israel on 7 October, greeted the news of the deal to secure the release of as many as 50 woman and children.
Neta Heiman Mina said that the partial release deal "is good" and "hopeful".
She added that her hopes of her mother Ditza Heiman being released were cautious.
"I hope my mom will come back but even if not, some people are coming back, it's good," Ms Heima Mina said.
While her family has direct contact with the Israeli Defence Forces which it is waiting for an update about her mother.
She said: "It’s not simple to wait but we are waiting and hoping.
"I am trying to be not very hopeful because I don’t want to be disappointed," she said, adding that she is managing her expectations.
Yehuda Beinin, whose daughter Liat Beinin, an American citizen, and son-in-law, Aviv Atzili, were taken by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Oz, said the announcement of the deal was welcome.
Critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he said that while his family have experienced great personal trauma from the kidnapping of his daughter and son-in-law, the trauma suffered by the wider community of the Kibbutz Nir Oz was greater.
He said: "What you need to understand is that on the Kibbutz the terrorists were going from house to house and were executing babies and women, children and adults. You need to understand the depth of the depravity of what happened on the Kibbutz.
"We personally are facing this tragedy, this trauma, but the Kibbutz as a whole is facing a much bigger issue altogether. 70 members of the Kibbutz were taken hostage in Gaza."
He added he would prefer to see the exchange of all hostages and not just 50.
"My general feeling would be to exchange all the hostages in Gaza for all the prisoners that Israel has. Apparently, that's not on the table and to be very frank, I'm not very happy with the messaging of the government of Israel," he said.
He criticised Mr Netanyahu for prioritising the war against Hamas over the freeing of hostages.
"I believe a master of messaging like Netanyahu knows the significance of the order. The freeing of the hostages is not actually his first order of priority. He wants to win this war. His war serves his purposes to a lot of ends," Mr Beinin said.
About the continuation of the war after the truce, he said: "Hamas has no place around the negotiation table when this is over.
"We cannot judge Hamas by our Western standards of liberal democracy. They don't believe in that. They never have and they never will.
"By the same token, I want to make it very clear there are also elements in the Israeli political spectrum that are basically cut from the same cloth as Hamas."
"We have a situation here where if we want to move forward with a comprehensive peace and begin a process of reconciliation between Palestinians and Israelis, we need to remove these radical elements from the negotiating table. They have no place there," he added.
A group representing the families welcomed what it described as the 'pending partial release of hostages’.
"We are very happy that a partial release is pending. As of now, we don’t know exactly who will be released and when," a spokesperson for the BringThenHomeNow campaign said.
