Diplomats address protesters at ‘international rally’ for hostages in Tel Aviv

Protesters calling for immediate elections and a deal to return hostages held in Gaza rally in Tel Aviv, May 18, 2024. (Pro-Democracy Protest Movement/Aviv Atlas)
Protesters calling for immediate elections and a deal to return hostages held in Gaza rally in Tel Aviv, May 18, 2024. (Pro-Democracy Protest Movement/Aviv Atlas)

Thousands of protesters are gathered in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square for a massive “international rally” aimed at capturing the attention of the global community and garnering support for the plight of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

Emceeing tonight’s event is former Israeli spokesman Eylon Levy, who is addressing the crowd before an array of flags representing the countries to which the 132 hostages hold citizenship.

Many attendees hold signs of the captives, American and Israeli flags and yellow flags representing the hostage families’ cause.

Nikolaus Lutterotti, the Austrian ambassador to Israel, speaks with the flag of Austria at his side, greeting the crowd in Hebrew then switching to English to give his remarks.

He invokes the name of Tal Shoham, a Hamas-held hostage who holds Austrian and Israeli citizenship.

The Austrian government is doing everything in its power to support the efforts to get him, and all hostages back home, he says. “It is a despicable crime that has been being committed on a daily basis for 225 days now.”

Famed American TV doctor Dr. Phil stresses American support for Israel in a pre-recorded address to the crowd.

“You need to know that all of us here in America have this uppermost in our minds, this isn’t just something happening halfway across the world,” he says.

Ayala Yahalomi, the mother of Ohad Yahalomi, addresses the crowd next and notes that her son is a French citizen as well as Israeli.

“They [the hostages] are not war prisoners,” she says, adding that “their only crime was riding a bike, dancing at a festival.”

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