People carry placards during a demonstration calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, on November 11. Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images
The families of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government to do more to bring the hostages and missing people home.
“We are waiting for the Israeli government to fulfill the basic contract that has been broken. We already paid the price on October 7th, now it’s your turn,” said a press release from the headquarters of the Forum for Hostage and Missing Families.
The families of the hostages held a rally in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Saturday, which was also attended by former Israeli President Reuven Rivlin.
More than 200 hostages were brought to Gaza following the October 7 Hamas attack.
The families are demanding that the international community and the Red Cross ensure medical assistance for the hostages, “as they do for Hamas,” the press release said.
“Our family members are trapped underground in the Gaza Strip. Take her home now,” the statement said.
“Two hundred and thirty-nine innocent people fell asleep on the night of October 6th and in less than 24 hours we lost all contact with them without a trace of information. Where is the Red Cross, the organization that is supposed to take care of them? Human rights? Why didn’t they ask to see the condition of the infants,” said Maayan Zin, mother of Dafna, 15, and Ella, 8, who were abducted along with their father from Kibbutz Nahal Oz in Israel.
People take part in a demonstration in Tel Aviv on November 11th demanding the release of hostages. Ilan Rosenberg/Portal
Noam Perry, whose 79-year-old father Haim Perry was kidnapped from his home on Kibbutz Nir Oz in Israel, said there can be no healing until all hostages are released.
“The live hostages can still be returned and we must not stop until they come home. My father is alive and only God knows how he endures in the underground tunnels at the age of 80. They’re waiting for us to save them. “We expect the prime minister to fulfill the most fundamental contract he made with the citizens of Israel, which has been violated,” Perry said.
Rivlin said he joined the families’ call for all hostages to be returned home and called on world leaders to seek information and act in all areas to free the hostages.
The former president said he also contacted the Red Cross this week and asked them: “How should we respond to your demand to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza if you do not force Hamas to allow you to visit all the hostages?”
Orly Gilboa, mother of 19-year-old Daniela Gilboa, who was kidnapped from a party in Re’im, Israel, said: “I’m past the phase of hugs and compassion. The rest of the hostages are now at home.”