Reuven Yablonka, the father of hostage Hanan Yablonka, told Maariv that “there was chaos and yelling. They shouted that they want all the hostages to come home. The female [freed] captives talked about unpleasant things that happened to them, one of them was completely exhausted.”
In an excerpt broadcast on Channel 12, the mother of a hostage shouted at Defense Minister Yoav Gallant: “I’m not prepared to sacrifice my son for your career or for those of any of the notables here. Really not. My son did not volunteer to die for the homeland. He was a civilian abducted from his home and his bed… Promise me that you’ll get back my son and all the other hostages, alive.” …
Ronen Tzur, the director of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, said after the gathering that “this was an unusual meeting. Members of the cabinet heard for the first time from freed female hostages describing the difficult things that are going on in the tunnels, including sexual abuse, and the fact that the airstrikes are happening very close to where the captives are being held.”
[This is an incredibly difficult trial for all Israelis, and especially for the hostages and their loved ones. The unity government did negotiate the release of over 100 of the kidnapped victims, however, and would have continued those exchanges except for Hamas’ decision to violate the ‘pause.’ There are 138 hostages still held by Hamas according to the latest count, and probably only a rescue operation will free them — if one can be mounted. — Ed]
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