“We don’t have time anymore!” A year after their release during the only truce between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, former hostages in Gaza called on Sunday for the release of those remaining in captivity. “We must act now. We no longer have time,” declared Gabriella Leimberg during a press briefing in Tel Aviv. “For 53 days, one thing kept me going: we are the Jewish people who sanctify life and leave no one behind,” she said.
During the unprecedented attack by Hamas commandos on October 7, 2023, 251 people were kidnapped on Israeli soil. A total of 97 hostages remain in Gaza, 34 of whom were declared dead by the army.
A new truce necessary
A truce in November 2023, the only one since the start of the war, allowed the release of more than 100 hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Since then, seven other hostages have been released alive in Israeli army operations.
“A year ago, I returned with 104 other hostages, all alive, more than any rescue operation could bring back. An agreement must be able to bring them all back,” added Gabriella Leimberg. “I survived and found all my family, I ask the same thing for all the families of the hostages and demand that the leaders do the same to bring them all back,” she said.
Danielle Aloni, kidnapped with her 6-year-old daughter Emilia and released after 49 days, spoke of the “danger that increases every day” for hostages in captivity. His brother-in-law David Cunio is still in Gaza as well as his brother Ariel Cunio and his partner Arbel Yehud.
“Every man and woman must think about what happens to them every night. We know for sure that they are brutally raped, physically and mentally injured, their identities and honor violated every day,” added Danielle Aloni. Raz Ben Ami, whose husband is still hostage, said that “it was time to bring them back and as quickly as possible because no one knows who will survive the winter in the tunnels.”
“Today, it has been a year since the implementation of the first and only agreement to release the hostages, no new agreement has been materialized since this first exchange,” announced the Hostage Families Forum. The Forum, which organized this press briefing, is a collective which brings together most of the families of people still captive in Gaza.
