Nearly nine months after October 7, families of Israeli hostages are still waiting: “Roni (2.5 years old) asked if Omri was still his dad”

While XXL demonstrations demanding the release of the hostages take place there on Saturday, a giant screen at the reception of the “Place des otages” scrolls through the seconds that have been ticking away since October 7. During random encounters, you can chat with families of hostages, ready to tell their story so that it is not forgotten, but certainly meditate in front of the photos of them. You will also find a 25-meter tunnel to go through, which gives the less claustrophobic a tiny idea of ​​what the hostages endure. On the trees and furniture, you will be moved by the statues of doves painted yellow (the color calling for the release of the hostages), children’s drawings, photos or even a table set up ready to welcome the 120 people still held captive for nearly nine months.

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Purchases to support families

Sometimes a child sings with all his heart, in a moving way. And it is also possible to show your support for the grieving families by buying t-shirts (€10), flags (€4), bracelets (€2.50), pins, chains, etc. All of this is in fact donated to the families of the victims, whose lives have been on hold since October 7. Volunteers are present every day from 10am to 10pm and will stay until each of the hostages returns.I have been coming here for seven months.tells us Irit, a dynamic retiree. No, I don’t have any connection to any hostage or former hostage, although my son was in Gaza with the army. But I wanted to come and help as soon as the war started. I wanted to do something. There are always a few people. During the week, they are children and locals. There are more people on Saturday afternoons, when there are big meetings, including tourists. So, yes, we are tired after all this time. But it’s nothing compared to what the hostages or their families have to endure.”

And just a few steps away, we come across the headquarters of the hostages’ families. Everyone is ready to share their story with anyone who will listen. Their faces are marked by these months of uncertainty and stress. The wrinkles are pronounced and if everyone puts on a brave face, each one sometimes managing to smile, we can see deep in their eyes a deep fatigue, which they manage to overcome to make their voices heard and fight, in their own way, for the return of the hostages they are calling for with all their heart. Listening to them means accepting to be moved.

“I was abducted on October 7th with four members of my familytells us Luis Har, 70, released on February 12 after 121 days in hell. I was in Kibbutz Nir Itzhak (near Gaza). They shot me. I was taken to Khan Younis, in a tunnel. We walked for seven hours. And then I was taken to an apartment where I spent most of my captivity. At first, the food was enough. Then the portions got smaller, little by little. Nobody abandoned me. Even when I was held captive, I didn’t think that. Sometimes we saw images of the rallies (Editor’s note: demonstrations of support)it gave strength. The army freed us on February 12. At 2am, I heard an explosion. I was sure it was a bomb. But the army was there to take me home. I felt the soldiers’ motivation to come and get me. My captors were very aggressive at first. We understood that there were different groups, different roles. The leader of the place where we were most often, we nicknamed him ‘landlord’. He assured us that there would be no more violence than necessary and that he would take care of us. I was probably ‘lucky’, even if I didn’t forget that these people were from Hamas. I’m sure that people were drugged, their eyes were wide open. My medication? I spent three months without it. They found a box with my name on it in a hospital.”

Next to Luis, Dani, who wears a bracelet with his son’s name on it, has a superb, full, grey beard. He is growing it because he doesn’t know if Omri Miran, his 46-year-old son, has the chance to shave. He also doesn’t know if the father of two young girls, who lived in the hard-hit Kibbutz Nir Oz and was taken to the Gaza Strip in his own car on October 7, is still alive. He can only hope, quite simply, that’s what keeps him going. For his son and his granddaughters. “His kibbutz was 700 meters from the Gaza Stripexplains the man who has two other boys and a girl. How long does it take to cross that distance? When I heard what was happening, I called my son. He assured me that nothing was happening. But I saw images of Hamas shooting people. I called Omri back: ‘The kibbutz is full of terrorists,’ he told me. He put his wife and two daughters in the safe room. (Editor’s note: which must protect against the numerous rockets). At 11am, Omri didn’t answer me anymore, I thought everyone was dead. I cried a lotIt is.”

And Dani continues his story as if we were going to escape, faced with the sadness of the situation, while we are surrounded by photos of hostages, too rarely crossed out with a mention evoking their release.In fact, the terrorists had threatened him: either he would come with them, or they would kill everyone. And to think that his wife had told him: ‘Don’t be a hero’. It was only at 6pm that I had news. Omri’s mother-in-law told me that my daughter-in-law and my granddaughters were alive but that my son had been taken to Gaza. I was happy that they were alive but I asked myself: what am I about to experience? Meanwhile, my daughter-in-law had to take care of her daughters. The youngest was six months old on 7 October, she has no memory of her father. Of course, we show her his photo. The oldest, Roni (2 ½ years)remembers bad people coming to his house and recently asked his mom if Omri was still his dad.”

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Holocaust Survivor Held Hostage

Women, men, babies, children and the elderly: no one has escaped the furious madness of the Hamas terrorists. “On June 20, my grandfather, Shlomo Mansour, the oldest of the hostages, celebrated his 86th birthday, says Noam, his granddaughter, showing a photo from a time too long ago with Shlomo, a loving grandfather. He is a Holocaust survivor. He is the only hostage in Kibbutz Kissufim. They did not kill my grandmother, who managed to escape, but they tried to set fire to the house. Since then, we have not heard from him, even through a hostage who was allegedly released. Will anything make my 21st birthday, in a month, better?”

At the young woman’s side, Gilad Shoham displays a good nature that hides a deep distress. He has been separated from his son Tal Shoham (who celebrated his 39th birthday in captivity) for too long, a son who himself has two children aged 9 and 3, who were held hostage but released at the end of November, like their mother.Three people in my family died on October 7th.he begins. Tal lives in a kibbutz 15 kilometers from the border with Gaza. He told me, when we didn’t really realize what was happening: ‘Don’t worry, let the army do its job’. My grandson saw everything. Tal, we need him, he’s the ‘godfather’ of the family. My daughter-in-law is desperate.”

While all the families of the hostages deplore the lack of help from the Red Cross, which has not managed to provide them with the slightest information, Gilad launches a cry from the heart, which resonates with the families of the other hostages.The war must stop now. We must get the hostages back. There is no price for our hostages. I was obviously happy for the other hostages who were freed. The government must do everything to make this happen.”

Former hostage Luis Har confirms: “Nothing is more important than the release of the hostages.”

Of course, we know that not all of them are alive. But their release would allow everyone to heal their wounds. And a hurricane of peace could then blow over the Middle East, which really needs it…

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