Relatives of remaining hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip rallied outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private home Saturday to demand a deal that would bring them home.
“Do you know where your son slept last night?” Shelly Shem-Tov, whose 21-year-old son Omer, was among the hostages, pleaded with the crowd outside Netanyahu’s Caesarea home, the Times of Israel reported.
“Can you call your son now and ask how he is? 105 days I don’t know where my son is,” cried the desperate mother.
Shem-Tov and other hostages’ relatives camped overnight outside Netanyahu’s home to demand the government take bolder steps to secure the release of more than 100 people detained since the October 7 Hamas terror attack on southern Israel.
The Israeli government had previously said that there were more than 130 hostages still in Gaza, following the exchange of a temporary ceasefire in November – but only around 100 were believed to be alive.
Relatives and friends of the hostages sit in the street outside the private residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. AP Eli Shtivi, the father of hostage Idan Shtivi, began a hunger strike on Friday outside Netanyahu’s home. Reuters
On Friday, Eli Shtivi – whose son, Idan, was kidnapped from the Nova music festival – began a hunger strike outside the prime minister’s house.
The distraught father vowed to eat only a quarter of a pita each day – the same amount of food the hostages reportedly received on certain days – until Netanyahu agreed to meet with him.
Many rally participants held Israeli flags and signs with the faces of their loved ones.
There is also a display of empty chairs to represent those detained in Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that Israel will eliminate Hamas once and for all. Reuters
“We are here to demand Netanyahu action,” Udi Goren, whose cousin Tal Haimi was killed on October 7, said in videos posted on X by reporter Yardena Schwartz.
“We know that there are offers on the table. We know he doesn’t do anything in terms of carrying [the hostages] returned home because he refused to sign the agreement. And we demand action,” he stressed.
“We lose hostages every day,” Goren added. “They must go home before they all go back into the coffins.”
The families of Israeli hostages – dead and alive – staged an all-night protest outside Netanyahu’s home, calling on him to agree to a hostage deal. Most recently, the hostages just came back in a body bag, and Bibi kept rejecting the offers on the table. pic.twitter.com/LuxUoayP7h
— Yardena Schwartz (@yardenas) January 20, 2024
Empty seats represent seats still held in the Gaza Strip. Reuters
Over the past few months, Netanyahu, 74, has repeatedly vowed to continue the war until Hamas is definitively defeated and the hostages returned – although he has been unclear about how exactly Israel will achieve this goal.
The emotional weekend protests also came just days after former Israeli army chief Gadi Eisenkot called out Netanyahu’s insistence that the country’s counteroffensive in Gaza would bring home the hostages.
“[The hostages] will only come back to life if there is an agreement, linked to a significant pause in the fighting,” said Eisenkot, whose son was killed during the fighting in Gaza in December, during a television interview Thursday.
The hostage family camped overnight. AP
As part of its official efforts to free the hostages, the Israeli military on Saturday dropped leaflets on Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.
The flyer featured pictures of dozens of hostages, as well as a message promising benefits for anyone who revealed their location.
“Do you want to go home? Please report if you identify one of them,” the printout read, along with a phone number and a link to a website with more names and images.
An Israeli protester places a poster on a vehicle. Reuters
Al-Madj al-Amni, a Hamas-affiliated media outlet, later warned Palestinians not to provide any information to the Israeli army.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
