(NewsReady.com) – More than 200 hostages were taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Israel managed to get some of them back in a ceasefire agreement earlier this year. The families of more than 50 of the hostages who are still missing spoke out at an event in New York City.
On June 4, the families of 52 Israeli hostages attended a dinner at the Park East Synagogue. Edward and Natalie Hister Ostad sponsored the event for the Israeli families at the Upper East Side synagogue.
The families called on Israel to accept a ceasefire deal so that their families could be freed. Alon Nimrodi, 53, said, “The deal must be signed today right now.” Hamas militants abducted Nimordi’s 19-year-old son, Tamir, while he was at the Eretz crossing base. He was unarmed at the time and didn’t have his glasses on.
The IDF believes only 83 of the remaining 124 hostages are still alive. They have confirmed that 41 of them are dead. The ceasefire deal, which President Joe Biden made public, would require Hamas to release the remaining hostages in exchange for the Israeli government withdrawing from Gaza. A permanent ceasefire would follow the withdrawal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he cannot sign the ceasefire until Hamas has been eradicated. He also said a permanent ceasefire is a “nonstarter,” saying the country’s “conditions for ending the war have not changed.” Netanyahu said he will continue to insist those requirements are met before he considers a permanent ceasefire.
The families are asking him to prioritize the hostages, not the eradication of the terrorist organization. After the announcement of the ceasefire was made, Gili Roman, whose sister Yarden Roman-Gat was previously freed, spoke out and said that Israelis “want to see people coming back from Gaza alive.” He said this could be Israel’s “last chance to save lives,” and all sides should join the ceasefire.
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