Thousands of Israelis, some 100,000 according to the organizers, gathered in Tel Aviv this Saturday to commemorate the 50th day of the attack. Hamas against Israelin which the Islamist group took more than 240 hostages, to ask the Government to release them all and remember that they will continue fighting until the last of them returns home.
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“We are here today to shout and say that we continue waiting for them to return and that we hope that the Government and the Army do something to bring them home again,” Kerem Ben Ami, sister-in-law of Ohad, kidnapped with his wife, Raz, told EFE. , on October 7 when they were at the Be’eri kibbutz.
Throughout the afternoon, in the renamed Plaza de los Secuestrados, in front of the Museum of Art of Tel Avivfamily, friends and citizens in solidarity with their cause have gathered in groups to pray and sing for the captives and also for the more than 1,200 people killed by members of the armed wing of Hamaswhom they compare to jihadists of the Islamic State.
As the hours passed, the square and the surrounding area filled with more and more people to attend the rally, in which one speaker after another called for the return of the captives, while they waited for the release of a second batch of hostages, which was delayed by decision of Hamasafter accusing Israel of violating the truce.
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However, Majed al Ansari, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, a mediator country in the agreement between Hamas and Israel, stated that, after “a delay”, a second exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners will take place today.
A sculpture of an hourglass in the square reminds us of the time that has passed and the anguish of waiting that escapes in the form of sand.
Not far away, another clock, this time digital, precisely marks the seconds, minutes, hours and days: today commemorates the fifty days of the attack and the massive kidnappings, but also the fifty days of war that have left in the Gaza Strip more than 14,500 dead, according to Palestinian authorities.
“We want everyone to come back”
But in Israel, the pain is for their own.
“Omer is the manager of a restaurant, a good boy, he likes life. He went to the Nova festival and was kidnapped by Hamas in a brutally violent way. Hamas is the Islamic State,” the mother of this 22-year-old young man, Niva Wenkert, tells EFE.
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Eden Zecharya, 28, was also kidnapped, but not at the festival site, but when she was returning home by car and was surprised by the Islamist group.
“We want everyone to return, to be freed from captivity. It’s crazy that there are old people, children, civilians, innocent people and also soldiers. We want everyone to come back. Age doesn’t matter, gender doesn’t matter. We want everyone to come home,” repeats Eden’s uncle, Ilan, along with young Orin’s mother, who carries a portrait of her daughter and assures that, until 17 days later, they did not confirm that she was kidnapped. .
In the square there are also stalls selling T-shirts with messages calling for the release of captives, a long table with 240 empty seats and a reserved space with 240 chairs with eyes but no one sitting who are looking towards a screen where the speakers, one after another, they ask for an end to their torment.
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And an installation made with 240 mirrors fastened to wood, which reminds those who look at one of the reflective surfaces that one of the kidnapped people could be.
“I come here every day,” the clown Amnon Rviv, who carries two photographs of two children (Yahel and Naveh Shoham), tells EFE: “They are my friend’s grandchildren. We went to class together, he was murdered in Be’eri and the children were kidnapped with their parents and grandmother.”
He explains that the two must be released this afternoon, as part of the agreement reached by the Islamist group and the Government of Israel for the release of 50 hostages in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners in four days of truce that began yesterday, when Hamas freed 13 Israeli hostages, ten Thais and one Filipino.
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“I hope they come back to make you laugh,” says Rvivi with a smile that grows from under his red clown nose.
A mantra that is repeated over and over again in each throat of those summoned, and that is also pronounced to EFE by Eyal Nouri, nephew of one of the nine women released yesterday, Adina Moshe.
