Oct. 7 hostage families stage emergency protest in Tel Aviv – Washington Examiner
Oct. 7 hostage families stage emergency protest in Tel Aviv
The families of the remaining Oct. 7 hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza organized an emergency protest in Tel Aviv after footage was released of their emaciated family members.
On Saturday, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad released undated videos of Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, juxtaposed with videos of emaciated Palestinian children. The families of many of the 50 remaining hostages, about 20 of whom are believed to be alive, gathered in Tel Aviv to demand an immediate end to the war and a deal to bring their relatives home. U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met with the families.
Witkoff was given a positive reception, with many of the protesters greeting him.
Witkoff later held a “very emotional meeting” for nearly three hours with roughly 40 representatives of the hostage families, a source in attendance told CNN.
During the meeting, Witkoff elaborated on the U.S.’s position to strike an “all or nothing” deal to release all remaining hostages at once and end the war.
“The plan is not to expand the war, but to end it. We think the negotiations should be changed to all or nothing. End the war and bring all 50 hostages home at the same time – that’s the only way,” Witkoff said, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
He told the families that the U.S. will “get your children home and hold Hamas responsible for any bad acts on their part” and “do what’s right for the Gazan people.”
“Against the backdrop of horrifying footage and harsh reports about the hostages’ condition – hostage families will cry out this morning in the heart of Tel Aviv,” a statement from Israel’s hostage families said, CNN reported. “We appeal to the Israeli government and the US administration – look our loved ones – and us – in the eyes.”
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said on Friday that it will be decided in the coming days whether a deal will be reached.
One of the videos that sparked the protests depicted David, frail and struggling to move, saying he hadn’t eaten for several days.
“I am in a very, very difficult situation, for a long time, for a few months,” he said, describing his lack of food and water. “This isn’t fiction, this is real.”
“I have been completely abandoned by you, my prime minister, who is supposed to worry about me and all the prisoners,” David said, addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The video concluded with David digging a grave, which he said was his own.
As negotiations have hit an impasse, the humanitarian situation in Gaza has reached its worst point yet. Nearly two million Gazans rely on just a handful of aid distribution sites. The United Nations warned that “widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease” have run rampant, though this is disputed by Israel.
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Casualty counts in the war are controversial. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, which is overseen by Hamas, over 60,000 Palestinians have died and another 148,722 have been wounded since Oct. 7, 2023. These figures are heavily disputed by Israel and its allies, who claim that most of those killed have been Hamas militants. Thousands more have been killed in spillover wars in Lebanon and Iran.
Over 1,200 Israelis were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack, which started the war. Nearly 900 IDF soldiers have been killed in Gaza.
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