Families of Israeli hostages demonstrating at the Gaza border briefly breached the Strip’s first border fence on Thursday before being persuaded by security forces to return, on Thursday morning.
The event, organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, saw relatives with bullhorns calling out messages to their loved ones from at the border near Kibbutz Nirim.
Rachel Goldberg-Polin, mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin called out, “It’s Mama, Hersh. It’s day 328. We are all here, all the families of the remaining 107 hostages. Hersh, we are working day and night, and we will never stop.” Hamas abducted Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old dual US-Israel national, from the Nova Music Festival at Kibbutz Re’im on the morning of October 7.
“I need you to know that I am giving you now the blessing I give you every single morning when I pray for you, and every Friday night I go out on the porch, towards Gaza, and I give you the Kohanic blessing: May God bless you and keep you. May God shine His face upon you and be gracious to you,” she said.
Varda Ben Baruch called out to her son, 19-year-old Edan Alexander, “Do you hear us, Edaneleh? Father and mother are waiting for you in America. You came here to join the army. Be strong, we are strong for you! We love you very much and are waiting for you!” The family last heard from him while he was manning a Gaza border position on the morning of the attack.
The families held a demonstration on Wednesday in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square, demanding the government reach a hostage release agreement, then made their way to Kibbutz Nirim in a protest convoy.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 103 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.
