9:51 pm ET, November 11, 2023
‘Bring them home now,’ the hostages tell the Israeli government
From Tamar Michaelis
Ahmed Garabli/AFP/Getty Images
Families of those held hostage by Hamas in Gaza are calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government to do more to bring home the hostages and the missing.
“We are waiting for the Israeli government to fulfill the broken basic agreement. We already paid the price on October 7, now it’s your turn,” said a press release from the headquarters of the Hostage and Disappeared Families Forum.
Families of the hostages held a rally in Tel Aviv, Israel on Saturday, which was attended by former Israeli President Reuven Rivlin.
More than 200 hostages were taken inside Gaza following the October 7 attack by Hamas.
The families are demanding that the international community and the Red Cross ensure medical care for the hostages, “as they do for Hamas,” the press release said.
“Our family members are being held in an underground prison in Gaza. Bring them home immediately,” the statement said.
“Two hundred and thirty-nine innocent people went to sleep on the night of October 6, and within 24 hours we lost all contact with them without a shred of information. Where is the Red Cross, an organization that should care about human rights? Why don’t they demand to see the condition of the children,” said Kibbutz Nahal Ozil in Israel with their father. Mayan Chin, mother of Dafna (15) and Ella (8), who were abducted from
Ilan Rosenberg/Reuters
Noam Perry, whose father, Haim Perry, 79, was taken from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, said there would be no healing until all the hostages were freed.
“The living hostages can still be returned and we must not stop until they come home. My father is alive and at 80 years old God only knows how he is enduring in the underground tunnels. They are waiting for us to rescue them. We are waiting for the Prime Minister to fulfill the most basic agreement he has with the citizens of violated Israel, ” said Perry.
Rivlin said he joins the families in demanding that all hostages be returned home, and urged world leaders to gather information and act in all arenas to free the hostages.
The former president, who said he contacted the Red Cross this week, asked, “How are we supposed to respond to your request for humanitarian aid to Gaza when you won’t force Hamas to meet all the hostages?”
“I’m done with the warmth and empathy phase. I want to see the actions that bring my daughter back. The rest of the hostages are now at home,” said Arli Gilbova, the mother of 19-year-old Danila Gilbova, who was kidnapped from a party in Reim, Israel.
