By The Jerusalem Post (World News) | Created at 2024-10-28 16:15:24 | Updated at 2024-10-28 18:31:58
2 hours ago
Parents and families of hostages staged a sit-in outside the party offices before being forced to leave by the Knesset guard.
By EVE YOUNG OCTOBER 28, 2024 18:02 Updated: OCTOBER 28, 2024 18:05
Families of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza and supporters protest at the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem on October 28, 2024.
(photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)
Family members of the hostages, joined by activists and hostage organizations, gathered at the Knesset Monday to advocate for the hostages on the first day of the Knesset's winter session after a months-long recess.
Family members spoke in many of the Knesset's committee meetings, and multiple protests and protest installations sparked confrontations with the Knesset guard.
Nearly 20 women dressed in the same clothing hostage Naama Levy was wearing when she was taken captive and with blood painted on their faces and bound hands stood silently at the back of the meeting of the Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality.
They also stood in protest near party offices as the Knesset guard tried to clear them away.
Parents and families of hostages staged a sit-in outside the party offices before being forced to leave by the Knesset guard.
Nissan Kalderon, who participated in the sit-in and whose brother Ofer is still in Hamas captivity, expressed frustration at being forced to leave, saying that the true disruption of public order is the fact that his brother has been in captivity for a year.
Family members of hostages staged a sit-in outside the Knesset Dinning room, holding signs that read, "How can you eat while they are starving? Protesters also gathered in one of the Knesset dining areas before being removed by the Knesset guard.
Hostage family expectations for the Knesset
Esther Buchshtab, the mother of Yagev Buchshtab, who was killed in captivity, spoke in the Knesset's education committee meeting, saying that she was sure that when she came back to the Knesset winter session, it would be to hear the results of a state inquiry into October 7.
She also had expected that the hostages would be home by the winter session, she added.
Yagev was executed when IDF forces got near to where he was being held, said Buchshtav, adding that she thinks a deal is the only option to bring the hostages home.
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"It's hard for me to talk about this," she said, adding that she does so in order for people to understand the situation.
'I don't know how you sleep at night'
"I don't know how you sleep at night," she said, adding that she has not slept in a year.
She emphasized the importance of bringing the hostages home alive, saying that when they come home dead, "they don't come back in coffins. They come back in bags."
Yarden Gonen, whose sister Romi is still held hostage, read a number of examples of the sexual violence and violence against women committed by Hamas on October 7, expressing frustration that she had read many of the same examples in committee before the recess.
"I read this last time we had a meeting like this," she said, adding that Israel's leadership must "start acting like this is not new to them, as if Naama is not only the daughter of Ayelet and Yoni but their own daughter, and [as] if they [have grasped] that we are 12 days away from the 400th day."
"The terrorists who committed all [the acts I read] are the same terrorists holding my sister."
"I will always thank you for holding this committee meeting, she said to committee head MK Pnina Tameno-Shete, but it is simply not enough," she said. "I feel like I am being made fun of. How much longer can we hold on like this?"
"For 388 days, for the first time in the history of Israel, so many women have been taken hostage, and they are still there."
A hostage deal to bring them home
Many family members of the hostages insisted that a deal was the only way to bring the hostages home.
Members of the Tikva Forum, which has been more reluctant to accept a deal and has opposed a deal with Hamas, were also in the Knesset on Monday.
"If Hamas is dismantled, why bring them back?" asked Zvika Mor, father of Eitan Mor, who is still in Hamas captivity, emphasizing that he is not against a deal but wants to deal with those holding the hostages rather than Hamas.
He also emphasized that he wants to know the details of a deal before it is agreed on.
"Of course, we want to bring the hostages back as soon as possible. It is unbelievable that we are approaching the 400th day. Will Eitan be gone on Hannuka as well?"
