 "Image courtesy: @bringhomenow/X")
Israelis on Wednesday gathered at different locations at the exact same time Hamas launched its offensive on October 7, 2023 – 6:29 am –, to demand the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza.
The demonstrations, which included the human chain formation of the yellow hostage symbol, also mark the 600 days of the Israel-Hamas war.
Hostage families and other protestors came together at predawn near the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, with the numbers 58 and 600 and the phrase “Save Them Now” drawn on the sand.
People stood in a circle at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, wearing yellow shirts and holding yellow balloons, as they waited for the moment when the digital board counting the days, hours, minutes, and seconds of captivity switched from 599 to 600.
“Go out on your porch and look at us. Our children were killed and assaulted on October 7. For 600 days, you have turned away from us. We won’t let this break us, and we’ll continue to fight,” the father of a victim said.
Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to bring back all hostages, “living and dead”.
“If we don’t achieve it today, we will achieve it tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, then the day after tomorrow. We are not giving up,” Netanyahu said of freeing the captives.
“We intend to bring them all back, the living and the dead,” he added without mentioning a possible truce.
Meanwhile, Hamas said Monday it had accepted a new ceasefire proposal by US envoy Steve Witkoff, presented by mediators, but a spokesman for Witkoff later denied the Palestinian group had accepted.
Meanwhile, a US-backed aid group in Gaza has begun its operation to distribute food in the war-torn region, days after relief was blocked from entering the Palestinian territory. Thousands of Gazans rushed into a new aid distribution centre, leading to chaotic scenes as Israel implemented a new distribution system.
With inputs from agencies