Wilfried Devillers (special correspondent in Israel) / Photo credit: AMIR LEVY / GETTY IMAGES EUROPE / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP
Several thousand people gathered like every Saturday on the large esplanade of the Tel Aviv Museum of Arts, which everyone now calls Hostage Square. More than six months after the October 7 attacks and the capture of Israeli hostages, families tirelessly await progress, against the backdrop of growing concerns about tensions with Iran.
They have been in captivity for 197 days. To continue to raise awareness about their fate, for more than six months now, the families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza have inevitably gathered every Saturday, on the large esplanade of the Tel Aviv Museum of Arts, which everyone here now calls the Square of the hostages. Several thousand people gathered this Saturday, against the backdrop of growing concerns after recent tensions with Iran.
Hostages in the background
Nathan holds out at arm’s length a large portrait of his uncle Kiess, 64, still held in Gaza. For a week and the Iranian strikes which targeted Israel, he fears that the fate of his uncle and the 133 hostages will be relegated to the background.
“Every time Israel puts the spotlight on Iran, that’s what makes the headlines. It’s dangerous. You know, earlier this week the war cabinet met and didn’t only talked about Iran, not at all about the hostages When all that should concern the war cabinet at the moment is finding a solution for the hostages,” he complains.
“We have to take care of Hamas”
His main fear: that the government will do less regarding negotiations with Hamas, those which have not been successful for weeks. This is also why Michael Levy believes it is essential that gatherings like the one this Saturday continue. “Everything that is happening is a concern for all of us. One of the reasons we are coming together is to ensure that the number one priority remains the hostages. Right now, we need to we take care of Hamas, then they will just have to take care of Iran,” he explains.
A little further away in the crowd, a man shouts an anti-Benyamin Netanyahu slogan. He considers the Prime Minister responsible for the failure of negotiations for the release of the hostages.