Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with families of prisoners freed from Gaza in a meeting described by Israeli media as very tense.
Tuesday’s meeting took place amid intensified fighting in the besieged Gaza Strip. Israel said that around 138 prisoners remained in that territory.
Several relatives who attended the meeting left bitterly criticizing the government.
Dani Miran, whose son Omri was among those captured, said he was so disgusted that he walked out in the middle of the meeting.
“I won’t go into the details of what was discussed, but this whole performance was ugly, offensive, messy,” he told Israel’s Channel 13, saying the government had made a “farce” out of it.
“They say, ‘We did this, we did that’. (Hamas Gaza leader Yahya) Sinwar is the one who brought our people back, not them. It makes me angry that they say they dictated things. They didn’t dictate a single move,” he added.
Israel has said several women and children remain in Hamas hands, while families with adult male relatives in captivity are urging them not to be forgotten.
“It was a very stormy meeting, a lot of people were shouting. We’re all trying to make sure our loved ones come home. There are those who want the women left behind or the children left behind, and those who say we want the men,” Jennifer Master said, whose partner Andreya is still being held by Hamas.
Speaking at a press conference afterward, Netanyahu said he had heard stories that “broke his heart,” including thirst and hunger, as well as physical and psychological abuse.
“I have heard, and you have also heard, of sexual assault and cases of brutal rape that are unlike anything else,” Netanyahu added.
Some families, meanwhile, are losing patience with Netanyahu’s government.
“We believe in our children, that they are strong and that they will overcome this and we want our government and the military to do what they are doing as quickly as possible – as quickly as possible – to start negotiations,” said Idit Ohel, the mother of the 21-year-old hostage Alon, during an online panel organized by the Forum for Hostages and Missing Families.
“Sixty days is too much. I don’t want 61 days, I don’t want 65 days. We want them back now,” Ohel said.
Israel pulled its negotiators from Qatar on December 2, saying they had reached an “impasse” after failing to make progress in talks aimed at securing a renewed pause in hostilities.
Afterwards, Hamas said it would not release any more prisoners until the war in Gaza was over, Klix.ba reports.
Photo: EPA-EFE
