Commemoration in Tel Aviv – Families of the hostages: “Hope is not lost”

For many, Monday, when the dead Israeli soldiers and victims of terrorism were commemorated in Israel, was an emotional day. “We have gone from a united community to a broken and grieving community,” former hostage Ella Ben Ami said at the meeting. Ben Ami’s father is still in the hands of Hamas. The memorial day was full of memories of the 101 killed members of their kibbutz, neighbors and friends. “Seven of them are in Gaza and have no place to be buried, their families cannot cry at their graves.”

Another speaker accused the Israeli government of failing to prevent the terrorist attack. “The government, which must protect them with the utmost vigilance, has no right to discuss the price of their return. (…) There is no price for the lives of the hostages.”

Many participants in the rally carried Israeli flags printed with a yellow ribbon, a symbol of the hostages whose relatives and friends have been waiting for more than seven months to return home.

Party in the shadow of war
This year’s celebration of Israel’s Independence Day is influenced by the October 7 terrorist attack and the war in the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a pre-recorded speech that this Independence Day will be like no other. “The war rages on. It was forced upon us on that dark day of the terrible massacre.”

On October 7, approximately 1,200 people were killed and 250 others taken hostage in the unprecedented massacre by Hamas and other Islamist groups in Israel. The terrorist attack led to the Gaza War, in which Israel takes action against Hamas, which is entrenched in residential areas and in numerous tunnels. The high number of civilian casualties and the humanitarian catastrophe for the Palestinian civilian population have simultaneously given rise to sharp international criticism of Israel’s actions.