For the first time since the beginning of the war, the presidents of the eighteen countries whose citizens are or have been hostages of Hamas have united to demand their freedom from the Islamist coalition and thus avoid a tragic end that seems closer every day. The statement was released yesterday, a day after the militia released a video of a captive blaming the Israeli government and army for “abandoning us.” “You should be ashamed,” the young detained man throws at Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet, whose words have shocked a population very angry at the lack of results in the releases.
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, heads the list of international leaders. It hasn't been easy. It has taken six months since the terrorist attack on the Israeli kibbutzim to reach a consensus text. In the end it has been achieved, but not because of a happy exercise of harmony but because of the serious deterioration of the situation of the captives after 202 days of kidnapping in inhumane conditions. Their fate “is a cause for international concern,” say the leaders of Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, the United States, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Thailand and the United Kingdom. The signatories remind the militia that there is an offer “on the table” to implement a “prolonged” ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for the freedom of captives.
Their relatives carry out demonstrations almost daily and on weekends thousands of Israelis join them in demonstrations demanding both the “exit from hell” of the kidnapped people and the resignation of Netanyahu for his “ineffectiveness.” However, it was the short video of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old Israeli-American, that caused a shock to the core of Israeli society. The recording, released by Hamas, shows Hersh sitting, with his left arm missing. A grenade tore it off. He was attending the Supernova festival, devastated by terrorists, who took him to Gaza with the remains of his arm wrapped in cloth. It is easy to imagine his subsequent hell in a Strip lacking anesthesia and medications.
“Every day we spend here you ignore us more and more,” exclaims the young man, who reproaches that “all the army's efforts have failed” and accuses it of the death of seventy hostages in the bombings. «My wife and I sat down, watched the video and cried. There were so many emotions because for the first time in 200 days, we saw him and heard him,” Hersh's parents explained yesterday, in statements that the more than one hundred families with absent relatives would unhesitatingly support. Yesterday they demonstrated in front of Kirya's headquarters in Tel Aviv, where the war cabinet was meeting. They brought large screens that played the Hers Goldberg-Polin video on a loop
In reality, it was a day of images. The White House released its own, a photo taken in Joe Biden's Oval Office with Avigail Idan, the 4-year-old Israeli-American girl who spent weeks subjected to the “indescribable trauma” of captivity. The president strives to put himself at the forefront of the rescue. Two weeks ago he received a representation of hostage families and they asked him for a show of solidarity. The gesture reactivated the discussion with the other 17 international leaders about the need to send a summons to Hamas. Until now that message had proven unviable due to disagreements over language.
However, on this occasion the fear of a dramatic outcome has prevailed. Security advisors believe that, after six months subjected to the regime of abuse by their captors, with hardly any food or medicine, nor having received sunlight in the tunnels, the kidnapped must “be at the limit of their physical and mental resistance.” , if many have not already bowed down.
Sinwar, in front
Of the 253 people captured on October 7, 129 have not been returned. The army has confirmed the death of 34, while Hamas claims that there are 70 and that they have died as a result of Israeli bombs. This week the situation has worsened. Hamas military chief Yahya Sinwar, missing for months, has returned to direct the militia's attacks and has taken charge of the fate of the hostages. A bad omen given his radicalism.
Israeli Intelligence assumes that many are with him in the underground and Islamist sources admit that he refuses to free them while the fighting continues on the surface. He has even responded with a flat refusal to Hamas's calls for reflection. Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior official of the Palestinian group, has dismissed the international statement and declared that US pressure “is worthless.”
Tel Aviv only seems to trust the military route. The Defense Forces are preparing for the assault on Rafah, where they are convinced that the bulk of the kidnapped people are located. The army yesterday withdrew the Nahal Brigade, which has been crucial in military operations along the highway linking the north and south of the Strip, in order to join the 106th Division that will enter the last Palestinian refuge in the Strip. southern Gaza. The attack could occur within a month.
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