CNN
—
For the families of those seized by Hamas, Sunday marks a grueling milestone. The hostages have been held for 100 days by the militant group – and while some families have had proof of life, others still don’t know their loved ones’ fate.
A hostage release deal agreed between Israel and Hamas in late November ended after six days, with more than 100 freed. There’s been little to give relatives hope of another deal since – and some see Israel’s actions as only increasing the risk of harm to those held captive. Others are angry at what they see as a failure by the Red Cross to help them.
“The first wave of hostages were released between days 49 and 54. It’s been nearly 100 days now – almost twice as long as they were in there for,” Naama Weinberg, whose cousin Itai Svirsky was kidnapped while visiting his family on Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, told CNN last week.
She said the captives’ families are “frustrated and suffocating,” adding: “There’s been no progress for weeks. Nothing is moving – except for finding out more hostages have died.”
Weinberg, 27, who spoke to CNN in Tel Aviv’s so-called Hostage Square, where the families have gathered for weeks to protest, was angered by the killing of a top Hamas commander in Lebanon earlier this month – widely attributed to Israel. She said some of Israel’s “military action” is “directly endangering the hostages.”
The country’s leadership “must put the release of the hostages at the top of its priority list,” Weinberg said.
Her cousin Itai, a 38-year-old dual Israeli-German citizen, had been visiting his mother, Orit Svirsky, a committed peace activist, on October 7. Orit was gunned down in front of him, and it later emerged that her ex-husband Rafi – Itai’s father – was also murdered, alongside his three dogs. Itai’s 97-year-old maternal grandmother, Aviva Sela, survived the attack, but her Filipina carer, Grace Cabrera, 45, was killed.
Weinberg, campaigning alongside her sister Dror Weinberg Almog, 35, said part of the problem was that the Israeli government has two aims: the destruction of Hamas and the return of the hostages.
“But there can’t be two aims because sometimes these aims clash – like the elimination of al-Arouri,” said Weinberg, referring to the drone strike that killed Hamas number two Saleh al-Arouri on January 2.
Although the IDF did not directly claim responsibility, al-Arouri’s death was widely attributed to Israel and led to growing fears of escalation in the region.
“The moment after they pressed the button and eliminated Saleh al-Arouri, Hamas said there’s nothing to talk about it – that the channel for negotiations had closed and that the discussion is over,” said Weinberg.
Svirsky’s family received “proof of life” when other hostages were released in November. His safe return, alongside that of all the hostages, has to come ahead of Israel’s stated aim of eliminating Hamas and its leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, Weinberg said.
“Itai’s parents were murdered,” she said. “We’re the first to be angry at Hamas and want revenge. They wrecked our lives on a level we still cannot grasp, but first we need to bring home whoever is alive.”
She added: “We have no doubt Hamas must be brought down, but in the same sentence I must say Hamas is an ideology. So they’ll get to Sinwar and what then? Someone new won’t come along? An ideology cannot be brought down.
“We are unequivocal in no longer wanting to live side by side with Hamas but we have no doubt that Hamas will survive for longer than Itai will survive in captivity.”
On Thursday, relatives of other hostages carrying loudspeakers gathered near the perimeter fence with Gaza to blast out messages which they hoped would reach their loved ones. Among them was Shai Wenkert, whose 22-year-old son Omer was kidnapped from the Nova music festival.
The event was the first in a series designed to bring attention to the fact that as of Sunday, the hostages will have been held in Gaza for 100 days, the Hostage and Missing Families Forum told CNN.
The forum said the plan was for the families to shout out: “Hold on! We will not stop until you return home. All of Israel is behind you.”
In an emotional interview with Israeli radio station 103 FM on Tuesday, Wenkert revealed that he and a convoy of other relatives had already been down to the border area. He said the action was taken by “tens of families” who were “fed up and cannot wait any longer.”
Echoing Weinberg, Wenkert said the government’s top priority must be to release the hostages, adding that “military pressure isn’t working.”
“He should do everything that’s possible to imagine,” said Wenkert of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“In all this ground offensive we’re not seeing any more (hostage) releases, we’re only seeing the bodies of soldiers, bodies of hostages and horrific tales of the murdered.
“I don’t want my son back as a body,” he added.
Wenkert had even stronger words for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which he accused of “not operating according to its charter.”
“The aim of the Red Cross is to provide humanitarian aid to both sides,” he said, while claiming the organization had failed to assist the hostages and their families.
He said the international body had refused to pass on medication that the families had delivered to it for the sick and wounded – among them his son, who suffers from colitis.
“Omer is a strong boy,” he said, but sometimes, “I find myself saying that I’m scared for my son’s life.”
As well as the sea of posters with the faces of the hostages, Hostage Square plays host to many striking art installations. These include an outsized egg timer filled with fake blood, a chess board covered with blindfolded pawns and a highchair for Kfir Bibas, the red-headed baby who has just turned 1 in captivity.
Friends and relatives of the missing oversee a series of stands at the protest site, including a gazebo featuring a harrowing artistic interpretation of the festival-turned-massacre.
A regular volunteer there is Nili Bresler, who formerly taught technical English to Avinatan Or, 30, who was kidnapped from the festival with his girlfriend, 26-year-old Noa Argamani.
“He’s an amazingly positive and resilient person, he loves life and he’s very, very athletic,” said Bresler, who recalled how she taught Or at Nvidia, the US tech giant where he worked.
“If anyone can hold out there, it’s someone fit who entered Gaza not wounded. At least that’s something we grasp on to – we don’t have much.”
Nevertheless, Bresler – who says she’s in close contact with Or’s family – fears for the hostages’ welfare.
“The Red Cross does nothing,” she told CNN on Monday. “They can negotiate with narco gangs in South America and Mexico, but they say they cannot get any information from Hamas.
“They operate inside Gaza, in the hospitals. If you operate in any hospital in Gaza you operate under the auspices of the Ministry of Health of Gaza, which is Hamas. There is no other government there.”
Bresler said representatives of the families were also turned away when they tried to deliver medicine to the organization’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
In a statement to CNN, an ICRC spokesperson acknowledged the “unimaginable suffering” of the hostage families and said the Red Cross understood their frustration.
“From day one, we have called for the immediate release of all the hostages and for the ICRC to have access to them. We have continuously requested information on them and their current health condition. We have not stopped doing so and will continue as long as it takes,” the spokesperson said.
“The ICRC has facilitated multiple release operations and we are relieved that more than 100 people were reunited with their loved ones. But it is not enough – we have repeatedly confirmed our readiness to facilitate the release of all hostages.
“While we wish we had the power to make the decisions and create the conditions for our access to materialize, we do not. For this to occur, parties need to reach an agreement. If this does not happen, the ICRC cannot take action. We are persistently advocating for the hostages, directly with Hamas, with the Israeli authorities, and with actors who have an influence on the parties to the conflict.”
The spokesperson added that the ICRC had asked the families to keep hold of medications for the hostages, as it does not “have access to the hostages and there are logistics and security reasons that require medical items to be sourced differently.”
Another regular at the square is Moshe Cohen, a relative of Or’s girlfriend, Argamani, who was last seen being carried away on a motorcycle by Hamas terrorists on October 7.
He was also critical of the Red Cross, which he accused of failing in its mission to protect civilians.
“The countries that support the Red Cross should turn off the tap and tell them there’s no more money,” he said Monday.
Last month, Argamani’s mother, who is terminally ill with stage four brain cancer, issued a heart-breaking video pleading for her release.
Cohen told CNN: “She has finished all treatment and she doesn’t have much time left. She’s only asking for one final hug before she dies.
“Noa’s father has to come to terms with the fact that his wife is very ill and that his daughter is being held hostage and it’s an excruciating situation. I don’t wish it on anyone.”
