Relatives say military pressure puts Israeli hostages in Gaza at risk

Relatives of the Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian militant group Hamas and other Islamist organizations demonstrated on Wednesday in the border area near the Gaza Strip for the release of their loved ones.

The march from Kibbutz Be’eri to the site of the Nova music festival led to two locations of the Hamas terror attack on October 7, 2023 – on a day when, according to a military spokesman, the next phase of the war was initiated.

The relatives of the remaining 50 hostages, of whom at least 20 are believed to still be alive, fear the worst for their family members.

Military pressure does not save hostages but kills them, said Ofir Braslavski, the father of Rom Braslavski. Hamas had released a video of the young man in early August, showing him emaciated and severely weakened.

“42 hostages entered Gaza on their feet – and returned in body bags … I don’t want my child to be number 43!” said Braslavski. “My child is hungry, thirsty, scared, tortured, dying. And no one – no one! – has the right to sentence him to death.”

Macabit Mayer, the aunt of twin brothers Gali and Ziv Berman, accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of recruiting tens of thousands more reservists for “a mission without a purpose” that endangers their “precious ones.”