Shaul Levi goes on a mission to protect the hostages. Photo: COLIN FREEMAN
However, the journey does not end there. Although his goal is to remind Mr. Netanyahu that his priority should be the 240 prisoners still held by Hamas, the end will only come when each of them is returned safe and sound.
However, with each passing day This chance appears. is decreasing because not everyone is as cheerful as Mr Levy.
«Among them there are sick people, old people, children and people who need medicine,» Mr Levy told The Telegraph yesterday when about 100 march participants stop for lunch in the village of Nof Alayon.
He was wearing a T-shirt with a picture of his 19-year-old granddaughter, who served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). “After 41 days, it becomes urgent.”
On the outside, many may wonder whether Mr. Netanyahu needs reminders.
Getting images of hostages adorn every street corner in Israel, on each of them has a photo from a family album. They show hostages graduating from college, cuddling with partners, vacationing in Europe, and, in the case of a two-year-old, taking their first steps.
However, aside from the four prisoners released by Hamas last month, there is still no firm word on an agreement to release anyone else, let alone all of them.
It was reported Wednesday that Israel rejected a Qatari-brokered deal under which Hamas would release 50 hostages in exchange for a three-day ceasefire.
Israel's official position is that it does not negotiate with terrorists. But the realities of life in the Middle East make such a lofty approach impractical.
Over decades, he has traded hundreds of imprisoned terrorists for captured soldiers—so many, critics say, that it has emboldened Hamas to take more action.
< img src="/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/ca9458eeb5b379ddb21e9c803157d1ca.jpg" /> Yair Moses, 49, whose mother Margalit Moses, 77, and father Gade Moses, 79, were kidnapped. Photo: COLIN FREEMAN
Indeed, some believe that Mr. Netanyahu's unspoken priority is the final destruction of Hamas, not the rescue of the hostages.
Just as their loved ones were torn from all walks of life, many of them, taken from kibbutzim, were leftists. The campaigners, the marchers, do not agree on what should be done.
Some believe military pressure will help force Hamas to hand over the hostages. Others believe Netanyahu should have secured the release of the hostages first before invading Gaza. Few people refuse to hand over Hamas prisoners.
“We know this may have to be done, and we can solve this problem later,” Mr. Levy said. “But first we just need to return the hostages home — and at once, and not a few here and there, in exchange for a ceasefire.”
However, many are unhappy that the Red Cross has still not been able to organize social services visits to hostages, especially the most vulnerable.
The UN-backed organization has visited terrorist detainees in the past, such as with the Afghan Taliban, and has extensive contacts in Gaza, where it runs humanitarian programs.
For now, they insist that Hamas simply denied them access , despite extensive back-channel negotiations.
However, given long-standing Israeli suspicions that the UN harbors institutional bias in favor of the Palestinians, the families of many of the hostages find it difficult to take the Red Cross at its word.
«I'm sure they could be doing more,» said marcher Yair Moses, 49, whose mother Margalit Moses, 77, and father Gadeh Moses, 79, are among those abducted.
“The Red Cross is still doing humanitarian work in the Gaza Strip. They should simply tell Hamas that if they are not given access to the hostages, they will end their humanitarian operations there.»
Mr Moses, who wears a pendant that reads: «Our hearts are captured in Gaza», said his mother, a diabetic who had just recovered from cancer, was left without her usual medications. He added that he himself had been physically struggling with the stress of recent weeks.
Families of Israeli hostages march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in village of Nof Ayalon Photo: COLIN FREEMAN
“This is hell, just hell. You don't fall asleep properly, and as soon as you wake up, you straighten up.
«I'm just about coping at the moment, but every now and then I pass out and sleep for ten hours at a time because my body can't take it anymore.»
Families are calling for help from the crowds the march attracts, who line the streets and organize food and lodging stops.
“They may not be able to do much, but just what they observe gives us strength,” Mr. Levy said.
But despite the applause and stern smiles, a sense of danger is never far away.
On Thursday, soldiers discovered the body of abducted kibbutz resident Yehudit Weiss in the building. near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. And as the march began Tuesday, Hamas announced the death of 19-year-old hostage Noa Marciano, another kidnapped IDF soldier, saying she was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip.
Her mother's reaction spoke volumes about what happened. That's what families have been dealing with, Mr. Levy said.
«She said she did feel some relief,» he said. “She was very sad, but at least she knew the answer.”
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