To everyone’s surprise, Israel’s hostage release deal with Hamas appears to be in better shape now than it was going into last weekend.

Yet, for one family at least, a family who have come to symbolise the mass abductions of Oct 7 more than any other, Monday’s developments all but shredded any remaining hope.

Hamas’s publication on Friday afternoon of the names of the four hostages they intended to release the following day triggered immediate alarm in Israel.

This was for the simple reason that the four women – Naama Levy, Daniella Gilboa, Liri Albag and Karina Ariev – were serving as IDF soldiers when they were captured, and although the exact terms of the deal have not been made public, it is widely understood that it stipulates that female civilians should be released first.

Where were the seven remaining female non-combatants from the list of 33, the public demanded.