2023-10-26 23:21:52
They say they have reached “the end of their patience”. The families of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip demanded Thursday evening in Tel Aviv to be received by the government.
According to the Israeli military, 224 families were contacted to be informed that their loved ones had been captured by Hamas during its deadly attacks on October 7. The Palestinian group announced Thursday that nearly 50 of them had died during bombings carried out by the Jewish state on the Gaza Strip in retaliation.
“Patience is over, from now on we are going to fight,” said the Forum for the families of the hostages and missing on Thursday evening.
“We demand that the (war) cabinet speak to us this evening and tell us how they intend to bring them back today. We are intensifying the fight, we are no longer waiting for direction, we are leading the fight,” said Meirav Leshem Gonen, mother of hostage Romi Gonen.
“For twenty days the government has been silent, we do everything ourselves,” lamented Eyal Sheni, the father of Roni Sheni, a 19-year-old soldier who was hostage or disappeared. “I ask one thing, get off your butt, help us and take responsibility,” he added.
Four women held hostage have been released to date by Hamas: an American mother and daughter and two elderly Israeli women. Mia Shem is the only French-Israeli national whose taking hostage by Hamas was confirmed by a video sent by the Islamist organization.
In a new and hybrid form, a platform of “thousands of volunteers”, combining experts from civil society and reservists from the famous intelligence unit 8200, helps within a common HQ to identify and locate hostages .
Incursions by the Israeli army were carried out during the night from Wednesday to Thursday to try to locate them.
Families are mobilizing
The families have grouped together in a “Forum for the families of the hostages and missing” and are mobilizing their own resources, including diplomatic ones.
Relatives of hostages have started a tour of European cities, a civil society initiative in cooperation with the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
VIDEO. 30 empty strollers in front of the Eiffel Tower to demand the release of child hostages
They held a press conference on Thursday in Madrid during which they asked that the Red Cross be able to see their loved ones to check their health and provide them with medicine.
After Paris and Madrid, they will also speak to the press in Brussels, Copenhagen, The Hague, Vienna, Berlin and Rome, they announced.
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