President Isaac Herzog meets in Jerusalem with families whose loved ones are believed to be held hostage in Gaza, October 22, 2023. (Kobi Gideon/ GPO)
President Isaac Herzog tells families whose loved ones are held hostage in Gaza that Israel is doing everything it can to bring them back.
Some 80 families were represented at the 90-minute meeting, which included the president and his wife, Michal Herzog.
“We’re here to help, to embrace, to strengthen, to support and to think together about solutions,” Herzog tells the group, according to his office. “We have a national challenge, and it’s an enormous challenge. It requires us to act calmly and responsibly.”
The president adds: “We want to bring your loved ones home, soon — that’s the challenge.”
Herzog says that, “as the president of Israel, I pledge to you to do everything to bring your loved ones home — that is the top goal from my perspective.”
Several hundred supporters stand outside Herzog’s residence in Jerusalem, waiting for representatives of the families of those missing and held captive.
“They must return our daughters to us, we entrusted them to you,” says the father of Roni Eshel, a soldier at the Nahal Oz base who is believed to be held hostage. “I’m calling to the only person, to the prime minister, you drafted them and you need to bring them home.”
Roni Eshel, an IDF soldier who was stationed at a military base near the Gaza border when Hamas attacked on October 7, 2023 and has been missing since. (Courtesy of Eyal Eshel via AP)
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From the Liveblog of
Sunday, October 22, 2023
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