2023-10-09 12:30:02
Palestinians transport a hostage to the Gaza Strip, October 7, 2023. HATEM ALI / AP
Dozens of Israeli hostages were captured, according to the army, in the south of the country by Hamas commandos during the October 7 assault, then brought back to Gaza. On Sunday afternoon, the government press office put forward the figure of more than 100 hostages – without specifying whether it also counted those who were held during these two days in Israeli towns and villages, then released. where are you. Despite their imprecision, these figures are staggering.
The identities of most of these people have not been made public. Several foreigners or people with dual nationality are believed to be among those captured. On Sunday, families crowded near Tel Aviv airport, where police and the army set up a reception center for relatives of the missing – dead, injured, kidnapped, on the run. Representatives of these families also spoke collectively to the press: “We demand answers, said Ori, mother of two girls kidnapped by Hamas. Not every answer will make us happy. We want the return of our children, boys and girls, and families as soon as possible. »
Some families recognized their loved ones in videos broadcast by Hamas from inside Gaza, like that of this frightened young boy who is mocked by other Palestinian boys because he is crying; or the one showing the seemingly lifeless body of a naked, tattooed young woman. There is also this elderly woman, Yaffa Adar, 85, driven into the enclave in the back of an electric cart, perhaps senile, clearly unaware of the danger, who smiled on Saturday at the crowd cheering her capture ; and then again these five men filmed shackled on the ground in a dark room – perhaps soldiers, Hamas claims to have some, as well as officers. The movement has not yet counted its hostages itself, whose custody would involve a specialized group, the “shadow unit”, created in 2006, and whose existence was revealed in 2016.
“We must be cruel now”
Ziyad Al-Nakhala, the leader of a small allied group, Islamic Jihad, affirmed on Sunday that his movement was detaining more than thirty Israelis in Gaza. For these organizations, captives are a formidable means of pressure. They can use them as human shields around their leaders. Their presence in numbers in Gaza complicates the phase of intense bombing in progress – 800 targets struck at the end of the day on Sunday – as the next stages of a military escalation promised by Israel.
You have 38.79% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
#Israel #despair #families #Hamas #hostages