Israel Hostage families: Our children are experiencing a holocaust
Relatives of Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip have gathered behind a barbed wire installation in Tel Aviv to remember the fate of their loved ones. "Our children are experiencing a holocaust. They will not survive much longer," said Einav Zangauker, the mother of a man with American and Israeli citizenship who was kidnapped by the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip on October 7. It was time to do "the only thing that can bring all the hostages back - to put a comprehensive agreement on the table that ends the war."
02.08.2025, 12:03
SDA
Shocking hostage videos
In recent days, Hamas and other Islamist organizations in the Gaza Strip have released videos of two hostages. The relatives had not given permission to distribute the videos, but in one case had allowed still images. The images of emaciated hostages in a tunnel shocked many Israelis and reminded them of the images of liberated prisoners in German concentration camps during the Second World War.
With the barbed wire action in Tel Aviv, the relatives warned: "Never again is now." US special envoy Steve Witkoff also visited the families in the square, as reported by Israeli media.
"I have avoided the word Holocaust until now because I am the daughter of a Holocaust survivor," said Anat Angrest, mother of a soldier abducted in the Gaza Strip on October 7, according to a statement from the Forum of Hostage Families. But now she is standing between barbed wire fences because her son Matan is experiencing a second Holocaust.
The video of his cousin is in his nightmares, said the cousin of Rom Braslavski, whose video was published by Hamas and the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad a few days ago. "Where is the humanitarian aid for the hostages for almost two years?"
"Get the live hostages out before they get into my situation," demanded Jael Adar, the mother of a dead hostage. "When I saw the videos, it took my breath away. Just skin and bones, and my son doesn't even get the right to a funeral."
20 hostages are still believed to be alive
According to official Israeli information, there are still 50 hostages in the Gaza Strip, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
The Hamas terror attack on October 7, 2023 was the trigger for the ongoing Gaza war. At the time, Hamas terrorists and other Islamists killed around 1,200 people and deported more than 250 others from Israel to the Gaza Strip. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, several tens of thousands of people were killed.
