This Tuesday marks the 39th day since October 7th. Families of 240 hostages held by Hamas endure ordeal From this Shabbat tragic. They don’t know if they will see their children, parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents, uncles, cousins ​​again… Terrorists took people from all walks of life: from an eighty-year-old to a nine-month-old baby. From this Monday to Saturday, many families walked from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. It’s 65 kilometers. They want to go to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence to ask him for “answers.” Most of them complain that they do not know what the Israeli government is doing to secure their release and whether they are willing to negotiate with terrorists.

The march passes through different cities: Be’er Yaakov, Beit Hashmonai Latrun and Kiryan Anavim, where lunch will take place Shabbat. The families are asking Israeli citizens, local and national leaders to join their demand for the release of the captives. The ground offensive against the Gaza Strip was delayed for three weeks after 7 October. One reason that seemed to justify this delay was the fate of the hostages. As one of them admitted Independent, there is always the possibility that they will become victims of Israeli bombing. “I’m afraid they will be killed by accident.”

“Seven members of my family, including children, are in Gaza. Every minute that passes without them hurts me. Every day that passes, their lives are in greater danger. That is why we call on deputies, ministers, public leaders, young people to make our cry heard. We want them back now. We can’t wait,” says Yuval Heran at the start of the march organized by BringThemHome, a platform that brings together most families.

As some of them say, they are losing strength and becoming increasingly desperate. Meirav Leshem Ghonem is the mother of Romi Gonen, a 23-year-old girl. “We organized this march because we already have enough and because we don’t have the answers. Although we feel safe here, they are in Gaza. We don’t know where. We would like someone from the government to come talk to us. We “We want to find a solution for all families together. “Why is there no agreement? This is unthinkable! Our demand is that they release all the hostages, everyone,” says Meirav Leshem Ghonem.

For Yaela David, the sister of Evyatar David, it is very important that they are received by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “I saw on video how they took my brother. He had a party and now he’s living in hell… We want answers and we want them now. We want to know what the State of Israel has to offer. ”

Criticism of Netanyahu’s handling of the hostage crisis is growing louder and louder. The Prime Minister always repeats that the main goal of the operation in Gaza is to destroy Hamas and at the same time force the hostages to return home. Their thesis is that there will be no ceasefire until all hostages are released. But families do not see results and receive no explanation.

Amit Zak, the nephew of 72-year-old hostage Adina Moshe, admits that he does not feel in good hands. “We feel in the dark. I don’t have a solution, but it’s not my role to find one. My role is to ask my family to come back,” he told Reuters.

Hamas has so far released four women: two of them, Julie and Natalie Ranaan, US residents, returned to Israel on October 20 thanks to the mediation of Qatar, a key country with good relations with the Hamas leadership, which resides in the emirate and with the United States.

Three days later, two elderly Israeli women were lucky: Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, and Nurit Cooper, 79, for health reasons. Lifshitz, a peace activist, admitted that he went through “hell.” Her husband Oded Lifshitz is still in the hands of Hamas. He said they were hiding in tunnels in the Gaza Strip.

On October 30, Israel announced that its Defense Forces had freed soldier Ori Megidish in an operation carried out in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Monday that rooms had been found in the basements of Rantisi Hospital in the Gaza Strip that appear to have been used to hide hostages. They also found a motorcycle similar to those used in the October 7 invasion of Israel. In some videos, terrorists could be seen taking away civilians on motorcycles.

As for the progress of the war, Hagari was optimistic Tuesday. He pointed out that the Israeli army “captured the Governor’s House, which is used as a terrorist facility and houses Hamas military and police offices, Hamas military intelligence offices, the organization’s headquarters and other posts. training to prepare for the October 7 infiltration.

Negotiations are ongoing

Some families complain that they know better what Hamas demands for the release of their relatives than the terms under which Israel negotiates. First, Hamas raised the issue of releasing 5,800 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons. He also threatened to execute a hostage every day while the bombings continued. However, they reported the death of about 50 hostages as a result of Israeli attacks. On Tuesday, it was confirmed that soldier Noah Marciano, who was stationed at Kibbutz Nahal Oz, died in captivity.

There are hostages of different nationalities, especially many Thais, since many of the agricultural workers on the kibbutzim are of this nationality. For several weeks, Spanish citizen Ivan Illarramendi and his Chilean-born wife Daphna Garkovic were believed to be in the hands of Hamas. However, on November 8, Israel announced that it had identified his remains. They were killed on the same day of the attack, but because their remains were burned, identification took a month.

As published by David Ignatius Washington PostIsrael and Hamas are about to reach an agreement on the release of most of the women and children, about a hundred. At the same time, women and young people in Israeli prisons will be released. Hamas is also pushing for a five-day truce to allow aid for civilians in the Gaza Strip. The Mossad is working with Qatar and the CIA to reach an agreement. US President Joe Biden personally thanked Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad al Thani for the emirate’s role as a mediator in relations with Hamas.