Lionel Messi’s yellow ribbon mistaken as hostage solidarity symbol
Soccer player’s tribute to childhood cancer awareness initially thought by some to be for Israeli hostages abducted by Hamas
Soccer player Lionel Messi marked his return from injury to Inter Miami on Saturday night, wearing what initially appeared to be the yellow ribbon that symbolizes the effort to bring the hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 home.
Despite many Israelis initially believing the ribbon was in support of the hostages, the Inter Miami team has announced its support for the “Kick Childhood Cancer” campaign, which also uses a yellow ribbon as its symbol.
September is childhood cancer awareness month.
Inter Miami CF defeated the Philadelphia Union 3-1 in the match.
Over the years, the yellow ribbon symbol has been used by many different campaigns and projects, including a number of diseases and suicide prevention, and has in many countries been used as a symbol of prisoners of war.
On October 7, Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel, killing 1,200 and abducting 251 hostages. It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF. Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that.
Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
Just over two weeks ago, Hamas executed six of the hostages, whose bodies were recovered shortly afterward by the IDF.
