‘We’re still in Simhat Torah’: Hostage families in Tel Aviv stage sukkah protest on Purim

Families of hostages being held captive by Hamas in Gaza are staging a protest in Tel Aviv sitting inside a sukkah under the banner “We’re still in Simhat Torah.”

The protest comes in contrast of the Jewish holiday of Purim which ends today.

Kobi Ben Ami, whose brother Ohad Ben Ami has been held hostage in Gaza since October 7, says, “Now the Purim holiday is ending, a holiday of miracles. I remember my brother’s face, but imagine that for 171 days now, I can’t recall the sound of his voice.”

Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw terrorists kill some 1,200 people murdered and kidnap another 253 kidnapped, mostly civilians, was perpetrated on the Simhat Torah holiday last year, which falls at the end of Sukkot.

Ditza Or, whose son Avinatan Or, 30 was kidnapped on October 7 along with his girlfriend Noa Argamani, 26, directs her comments to the government: “I call on the leaders of the State of Israel, the people’s spirit is strong, the people are behind you, and if you reflect that outwards, they will see our strength all over the world.”

It is believed that 130 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, and four hostages were released prior to that. Three hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 11 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military.