From the Liveblog of
Thursday, July 18, 2024
‘They’re dying slowly in body and soul’: Three former Hamas hostages beg Netanyahu to close deal
Three former Hamas hostages hold a press conference in the so-called Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, calling on the government to close a deal to secure their release from Gaza.
The three women were among 105 civilians who were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November.
“What we experienced in 49 days, the 120 [remaining] hostages have been experiencing for almost six times the amount of time we lived in terror in Hamas captivity,” says Danielle Aloni, who was kidnapped on October 7 along with her her husband David Cunio and daughter Emilia. Cunio is still captive in Gaza.
“They have been abandoned there. For nine and a half months, they’ve been miserable, they’re suffering, they’re dying slowly in body and soul, even those who are still alive.”
Addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of his trip to Washington next week, released hostage Adina Moshe says, “I call on you prime minister: save those who you can. There are live hostages. There’s no time.”
It is believed that 116 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, of whom 42 have been confirmed dead by the IDF. Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
“Sign the deal, you will be the one who returns the living and the dead for burial. Be the one who allows us all to get out of this hell, to feel again like Jews, Israelis, who do everything for our brothers and do not abandon them,” Moshe adds.
Raz Ben Ami, whose husband Ohad remains in Hamas captivity, pleads, “Bibi, you tell me, how will I be able to go on if you don’t sign your deal now and give me Ohad back?”
“If the deal doesn’t go through this time, does that mean I should start forgetting about him? I ask you, I demand of you: first the deal and then the flight,” she adds, referencing Netanyahu’s imminent trip to the US.
