Posts
Israelis are making frightening comparisons to the term "Muselmann", which was used during the Holocaust to describe Jewish prisoners in Nazi camps who were nearly starved to death.
On Saturday, three Israelis were released after being held by the Hamassholes for 491 days in the Gaza Strip. This brings the number of hostages freed in the first part of the ceasefire agreement to 21.
Or Levy, 34, Eli Sharabi, 52, and Ohad Ben Ami, 56, were handed over by Red Cross officials to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) around 11:15 a.m. local time and were soon driven back into Israeli territory.
The IDF took them to a facility near the border for initial health checks and to reunite with their families. Before their release, Hamas had them on display in front of a loud crowd in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza. The men looked very weak and thin.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office issued a statement welcoming the hostages back, saying, "The government of Israel embraces the three returnees," and warned, "The shocking images that we have seen today will not go unaddressed.
“The government, together with all of the security officials, will accompany them and their families. The government of Israel is committed to returning all of the hostages and the missing,” the statement continued.
It ended with a quote from Psalms (31:15): “Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, from those who pursue me.”
The state of the hostages has caused a strong reaction on social media, with many drawing parallels to the Muselmann from the Holocaust, noting their extreme thinness and frailty.
“This is what a crime against humanity looks like!” Israeli President Isaac Herzog posted on X.
“The whole world must look directly at Ohad, Or, and Eli—returning after 491 days of hell, starved, emaciated and pained—being exploited in a cynical and cruel spectacle by vile murderers. We take solace in the fact that they are being returned alive to the arms of their loved ones,” Herzog wrote.
“Completing the hostage deal is a humanitarian, moral, and Jewish duty. It is essential to bring back all our sisters and brothers from the hell of captivity in Gaza—every last one of them!” he added.
“A psychological war is being waged that can cause harm to us,” said Dr. Gilad Bodenheimer, chief of the ministry’s mental health division. “We urge the public to minimize exposure to distressing images and videos and to be mindful of what they, their children and their loved ones are seeing.”
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum also commented, “The disturbing images from the release of Ohad, Eli and Or serve as yet another stark and painful evidence that leaves no room for doubt—there is no time to waste for the hostages!”
Levy was kidnapped from the Supernova Music Festival near Kibbutz Re'im during the October 7, 2023, attack. His wife, Eynav, was killed, and their now three-year-old son Almog has been living with his grandparents since.
Sharabi and his brother Yossi were abducted from Kibbutz Be'eri. Sharabi’s wife and daughters were killed there, and Yossi has since been confirmed dead, his body still held in Gaza.
Ben Ami was taken from Be’eri along with his wife, Raz, who was freed during a ceasefire in November 2023.
In exchange, Israel was set to release 183 Arab prisoners on Saturday: 18 serving life sentences, 54 serving long terms, and 111 arrested in Gaza during the conflict.
Last Saturday, Yarden Bibas, Ofer Kalderon, and Keith Siegel were released from Gaza. Two days before that, IDF soldiers Agam Berger, 20, civilians Arbel Yehud, 29, Gadi Mozes, 80, and five Thai farm workers were freed.
The previous week, four female IDF soldiers—Karina Ariev, 20; Daniella Gilboa, 20; Naama Levy, 20; and Liri Albag, 19—were brought back after being taken from Nahal Oz base.
Three civilian women—Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Doron Steinbrecher—were released on January 19, shortly after the ceasefire started.
According to Israeli estimates, 76 hostages are still held by Hamas in Gaza, including 73 taken during the October 7, 2023 attacks.
Of the 251 hostages kidnapped on October 7, 2023, 178 have been returned or rescued, and Hamas is believed to hold 35 bodies, including 34 from the October 7 invasion and that of IDF Lt. Hadar Goldin, taken in 2014.
No comments:
Post a Comment