Foreign Minister Schallenberg hopes for a “permanent ceasefire” in Gaza. The release of the hostages must be the top priority.
Tel Aviv. There are more than 130 empty chairs at the long white-covered Saturday table in the square in front of Tel Aviv's art museum. A chair for every hostage still missing in the Gaza Strip after more than five months. Friends and relatives of the kidnapped people come here every day to remember the fate of their loved ones.
Hope has been growing since Tuesday morning. Last night, US President Joe Biden publicly expressed hope that a ceasefire for the Gaza Strip could come into effect early next week. Gilad Korngold has been worried about his son Tal Shoham since October 7th. That day, terrorists kidnapped him from a kibbutz near the Gaza border. His wife and children were released in November during the last ceasefire. But Tal Shoham is still in the clutches of the Islamists. He has dual Israeli-Austrian citizenship because his grandmother was expelled from Vienna by the National Socialists. And that's why the Republic is making special efforts to free him.
“We see signs that something is moving. But we learned in this region not to have too many hopes”, says Gilad Korngold, wearing a black t-shirt with his son’s photo, to the “press”. Korngold has not received any signs of life from his son Tal since October 7th. “We have been suffering for 144 days and nights. We just want our son back.”