From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
Released hostage’s sister urges Trump to help free all Gaza captives: ‘Thank you for choosing good over evil’
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Yarden Gonen, whose sister Romi Gonen was freed from Hamas captivity in Gaza last week, calls on US President Donald Trump to help secure the release of the remaining 87 of the 251 hostages abducted by the Palestinian terror group on October 7, 2023.
Romi is one of seven female hostages released by Hamas under a hostage-ceasefire deal that came into effect last week. A total of 33 hostages, not all of them alive, are set to be released in the initial 42-day phase of the accord.
“President Trump – thanks to you, I can hug my sister again. It gave our country hope that with strong leadership and determination, we can bring everyone back,” she says in English at a Tuesday evening rally in Tel Aviv.
“Please help us complete what you’ve started and bring every last hostage home, as you so powerfully declared since you were elected. Thank you for choosing the good over the evil.”
She also thanks former US president Joe Biden for his efforts in securing the hostage deal, which began on his last day in office.
Gonen speaks directly to the hostages still held by terrorists in Gaza: “Know that your families are doing everything they can and will never give up on you. We will never give up on you. Stay strong, survive.”
On her sister, who was held hostage in Gaza for 471 days, she says, “The day of her return to Israel will forever be the day of her rebirth. In her own words, ‘there is life after death.'”
“And what a life awaits you, my love,” she says with a smile.
The Times of Israel Community.