Dozens of friends and relatives of a 23-year-old Israeli-American man held hostage by Hamas gather at Ben Gurion Airport to draw attention to his plight.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin had been scheduled to fly out today for a long-planned backpacking trip.
“Today, Dec. 27, Hersh has a one-way ticket to go traveling around the world. It’s a trip that he’s been planning for a long time. He’s been dreaming about it for a long time,” says his father, Jonathan Polin. “He’s unfortunately not going to be taking off on a trip today, but we are hoping and praying that he’s going to take off on this trip soon.”
Goldberg-Polin was attending a music party near the Gaza border that was targeted by Hamas in the October 7 cross-border terror attack that triggered the Israel-Hamas war. Over 300 people at the rave were killed while several dozen were taken hostage.
About 50 people join the gathering at Ben Gurion Airport, many holding posters of Goldberg-Polin’s picture with the slogan “Bring Hersh Home.”
His father brought a backpack that he says he had bought as a present for his son’s trip.
“The bag was not supposed to be here today on my back. It’s supposed to be on Hersh’s back,” he says. “We hope it’s going to be, soon.”
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