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Neither German Norwegian

Neither German Norwegian
Bertrand Hauger

I speak German, so I'm no stranger to the way some languages will simply slap words together. Stopping at this yurt-looking visitor office on my drive up north through Norway, I eventually realized that the apparent gibberish Polarsirkelsenteret meant "The Polar Circle Centre."

Still, neither German nor Norwegian has got anything on neighboring Finnish. I'm done.

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FOCUS: Israel-Palestine War

Hostage Release: The "Psychological Terror" Of Awaiting Your Loved One's Return

Israel and Hamas have reached a deal to exchange 50 Israeli hostages held in Gaza for a four-day pause in fighting and the return of Palestinian prisoners. Orna Dotan, leading a team of therapists tasked with aiding these hostages and their families, takes us inside a uniquely charged personal and political situation.

Photograph of posters depicting children and relatives that have been kidnapped by Hamas.

November 6, 2023, Jerusalem: Relatives and friends of those kidnapped during the October 7 Hamas attack hold photos of their loved ones

Pavel Nemecek/ZUMA
Fabiana Magrì

TEL AVIV — Israel and Hamas have reached a deal to exchange 50 of the hostages held in Gaza for a four-day pause in fighting and the return of 150 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. The families of the hostages, who have lived through the past seven fraught weeks, are now being thrown into a new experience as they await the possible release of their loved ones.

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They are living in a "state of psychological terror," one relative of a hostage said Thursday morning on Israeli radio after learning that there was a delay in the agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Volunteers have urged the media to handle the situation with respect and sensitivity as the next few hours are expected to be "exceedingly stressful" for these families. After six weeks without news of their children, husbands, wives, grandchildren, cousins, grandparents, and great-grandparents, these hours are the final barrier to embracing their loved ones.

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