Video message from Macron to open 24-hour rally calling for release of Gaza hostages

Organizers of the 24-hour rally calling for the release of the hostages held in Gaza say the event will open with a video message from French President Emmanuel Macron.

The central event organized by the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum Headquarters will be held at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, with rallies to be held across the country and around the world to mark Sunday’s grim milestone of 100 days in captivity for those kidnapped during the Hamas onslaught on October 7 in which some 1,200 people were murdered.

It is believed that 132 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November. Four hostages were released prior to that, and one was rescued by troops. The bodies of eight hostages have also been recovered and three hostages were mistakenly killed by the military. The Israel Defense Forces has confirmed the deaths of 25 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza.

One more person is listed as missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown.

Hamas has also been holding the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin since 2014, as well as two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who are both thought to be alive after entering the Strip of their own accord in 2014 and 2015 respectively.