JOSEPH CAMPBELL
November 14, 2023
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - The families of Israelis being held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip kicked off a five-day march on Tuesday from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to demand the government does much more to secure their release.
Hamas fighters took around 240 people hostage during their Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. The captives ranged in age from nine months to 85 and are believed to be being held in tunnels deep under the Gaza Strip.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is coming under fierce criticism from some relatives for not doing more to secure their release as the Israeli military pushes deep into Gaza with an order to destroy Hamas.
"I demand from Benjamin Netanyahu and the cabinet to give us answers and actions," said Shelly Shem Tov, whose 21-year-old son Omer was dragged into Gaza five weeks ago.
"Where are you? Where are you?" she said, addressing the government in an impassioned plea at the start of the march.
The armed wing of the Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Monday it was ready to release up to 70 women and children hostages in return for a five-day truce and the release of 275 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons.
It said Israel was "procrastinating and evading" the price of the deal.
Netanyahu has so far rejected any talk of a ceasefire, telling NBC News on Sunday that he would only be willing to pause the fighting if all the hostages were freed.
He added that the best way to secure a deal was to maintain military pressure on Hamas. "That's the one thing that might create a deal and if a deal is available, well, we will talk about it when it's there," he said.
Israel says Hamas has lost control of the coastal enclave. Medical officials say more than 11,100 Palestinians, around 40 % of them children, have died as a result of Israeli strikes.
The Gaza militants have so far released four hostages, the last on Oct. 23. The Israeli military on Tuesday confirmed the death of a captive soldier, who Hamas said was killed in an Israeli strike.
The Tel Aviv marchers will end their protest on Saturday in front of Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem, some 65 km (40 miles) away.
"I don't feel like we are in good hands. We don't feel like we get enough information. We fell into the darkness. We want answers," said Amit Zach, the nephew of 72-year-old hostage Adina Moshe.
"I don't have a solution, but it's not my job to get a solution. It's my job to demand my family back," he added.
Holding up pictures of the captives, the crowd chanted "Bring them home now!" One man shouted: "Everyone!"
(Reporting by Joseph Campbell in Tel Aviv and Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Writing by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Christina Fincher)
CBC
Mon, November 13, 2023
Canadian Israeli humanitarian and peace activist Vivian Silver, 74, was believed to have been taken hostage during the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel. (Submitted by Yonatan Zeigen - image credit)
Vivian Silver, a Canadian Israeli peace activist whose family said they believed was taken hostage from her home in southern Israel when Hamas-led militants carried out a surprise assault on Oct. 7, was killed in the initial attacks, her family confirms.
Updated Tue, November 14, 2023
Demonstrators in Washington back Israel, denounce antisemitism
Israeli Americans and supporters of Israel gather in solidarity with Israel and protest against antisemitism, in Washington
By Jonathan Landay
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Washington on Tuesday for a "March for Israel" to show solidarity with Israel in its war with Hamas and condemn rising antisemitism.
Streets were closed around much of downtown amid heightened security, as people gathered in bright sunshine on the National Mall, many draped in Israeli and U.S. flags.
“We are here to show the world that we won’t be exterminated again," said Marco Abbou, 57, a personal trainer from Hackensack, New Jersey, who is originally from Israel.
Protests and public demonstrations — both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel — have rippled around the world since gunmen from the Palestinian militant group Hamas rampaged through southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, according to Israel, and taking about 240 hostages back to Gaza.
Israel responded with a strict blockade on Hamas-controlled Gaza, and an aerial bombardment and ground offensive that Palestinian authorities say has killed more than 11,000 people, around 40% of them children.
As well as protests, the conflict has sparked a rise in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents in the United States including violent assaults and online harassment, according to advocacy groups.
Organizers of Tuesday's demonstration said they estimated 200,000 people were attending to show U.S. support for Israel, demand the release of hostages and condemn antisemitic violence and harassment.
The largest demonstration in Washington so far related to the conflict on Nov. 4 drew thousands who called for the U.S. government, Israel's main backer, to call for a ceasefire.
'NOT INTERESTED IN PEACE'
“A ceasefire is a pause that would allow Hamas to rearm,” said Ariel Ben-Chitrit, 33, a federal government worker from Herndon, Virginia, who was carrying a blue and white Israeli flag at Tuesday's protest.
Ben-Chitrit expressed regret that Palestinian civilians were suffering and Gaza hospitals being subjected to extreme conditions, but said the only way to end the conflict was to eliminate Hamas.
“Hamas has proven they are not interested in peace," he said.
The Biden administration has rebuffed calls for a ceasefire but has urged Israel to grant pauses in the fighting for civilians to move to safer locations and for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.
Underscoring support in the U.S. Congress for Israel, busloads of senators and members of the House of Representatives attended the pro-Israel rally. Senator Charles Schumer, the Senate's Democratic majority leader, and the highest-ranking Jewish elected U.S. official, rescheduled his weekly press conference so he could attend.
Authorities ordered an increased police presence for the demonstration, the House of Representative's Sergeant at Arms said in a notice on Monday, adding there was no specific threat but measures were being taken out of an abundance of caution.
Tuesday's rally included Orthodox Jews wearing long black coats and black felt hats, gaggles of children, and self-described “progressive liberals” such as Erica Taxin, 56, a yoga studio owner from Philadelphia.
She said she disagreed with other progressives calling for a ceasefire.
“We can disagree about some of Israel’s policies. What I do disagree with is that this was terrorism,” she said of Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault.
The militants “didn’t just take hostages but killed children and peacemakers,” she said, referring to murdered Israeli activists who advocated peace with the Palestinians. “How does that have anything to do with social justice?"
(Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Writing by Simon Lewis; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
No comments:
Post a Comment