War in the Middle East
Relatives of the Hamas hostages ask for help with leaflets
Israeli relatives of Hamas hostages throw pieces of paper with a photo
© Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
The hostages kidnapped from Israel have been in the control of Hamas and other terrorists in the Gaza Strip for six months. Relatives make a desperate appeal to Germany.
With a spectacular leaflet campaign in Berlin, relatives of the Israeli hostages kidnapped by the terrorist organization Hamas remembered the fate of their loved ones: from a viewing balloon in the center of the capital, they dropped hundreds of pictures of the hostages from a height of 150 meters with the demand: “Bring them home “. Their hope: The federal government should use its diplomatic channels to put pressure on Qatar and thus indirectly increase Hamas so that around 130 people can be released.
The terrorist organization not only murdered around 1,200 people in the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, but also kidnapped around 230 women, men and children. 105 of them were released after almost two months as part of an agreement between Israel and Hamas. The fate of the remaining hostages is unclear. According to Israeli estimates, almost 100 of them are still alive. Before the leaflet campaign, the relatives had set up a large hourglass in Berlin’s government district with the inscription: “Time is running out.”
Yoga classes in captivity
“We are here to remind people that we are still waiting for my sister Carmel to come home from Gaza because they are running out of time,” said relative Alon Gat. His 39-year-old sister was kidnapped from Kibbutz Beeri near the border with the Gaza Strip on October 7th – as were Alon Gat himself, his wife Yarden Roman-Gat and their three-year-old daughter. Alon Gat managed to escape with the child before being transported to the Gaza Strip. Yarden was released after 54 days with other hostages.
The released people said that Carmel Gat, a behavioral therapist, looked after the other prisoners while they were being held hostage and organized yoga classes, said their brother Alon. They supported each other. But where she is now, he says, is unknown. “We are worried about her mental and physical health, especially after hearing about the rapes that are going on,” the brother said. “We have to convince everyone that we have to get people out of this hell.”
Germany has already provided important support and has hugged the relatives with great sympathy. But everyone should do more. Germany is influential, especially with Qatar, which in turn plays an important role for Hamas. “The most important goal now is to push Germany, push Qatar and push Hamas so that Hamas makes a compromise,” Alon Gat said.
“Each hostage has his own hourglass”
Qatar, Egypt and Turkey have influence on Hamas, and these are all countries with which Germany has close relations, said Melody Sucharewicz, who is overseeing the relatives’ campaign in Germany. “Qatar has billions in investments in large German companies, the relationships are very close, there are gas agreements,” she said. “And of course it makes sense that Germany would use this close relationship, which is also based on interests, to exert pressure.”
Naama Weinberg’s cousin was murdered by his captor 99 days after his kidnapping. “We are standing here today in front of the hourglass to remember that each of the hostages has their own hourglass,” said the young woman. “We ask for help and remind everyone that no more hostages come into this situation, that their time is running out.”
A few meters away from the hourglass, the Bavarian tourist Hans-Jürgen Drasdo stood and looked thoughtfully at the scene. Drasdo said he didn’t want to take a position, but his opinion was this: “I’m actually a convinced pacifist. At the end of every act of war there were negotiations, and I have the feeling that we have to find a way to each other.”