“What I ask of you, what I beg of you, is that you help us free our families. Imagine that they were your relatives, your children.” These are the words of the Israeli citizen Merav Mor Raviv. His uncle, his uncle’s wife, a cousin and her young son were kidnapped in the kibbutz Nahal Oz by Hamas. He has come to Spain along with four other relatives of kidnapped people to demand the release of his loved ones. In total, at least 220 people have been arrested and are believed to be held in the Gaza Strip. “We don’t know what happens to them. Red Cross [en Gaza] It doesn’t tell us anything,” he added, before dozens of journalists gathered at the headquarters of the Jewish Community of Madrid, at an event convened by the Israeli Embassy.
Through tears and with broken, sometimes broken voices, they have told the stories of desolation left in their lives by the surprise attack by Hamas on October 7, which left 1,400 dead, according to official figures.
“We ask that Spain speak with the only two countries that speak with Hamas [Qatar, Irán]”, Add Naama Weinberg. whose uncles were murdered and who has his cousin, Itai, 38, kidnapped. “I’m sure his heart will be illuminating the darkness around him,” she says. He asks his own Government to first release the hostages, and then finish off Hamas.
Meeting with Albares
Before the event, the acting Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, met with the group of relatives together with the Israeli ambassador, Rodica Radian-Gordon and the first vice president of the Government, Nadia Calviño, as confirmed by the relatives. The head of Spanish diplomacy has reiterated his request for an “unconditional release” of all of them.
Relatives of Spanish Iván Illarramendi, kidnapped with his wife in a kibbutz located next to the Gaza Strip, also attended the meeting. “Ivan is a very good person. He has taught me many things about life, both about philosophy and cooking,” said Roberto Meyer, another of the attendees, who knows him personally. “He is paying a price that he has no reason to pay. I ask everyone not to be silent. It is not just our problem,” he said. In conversation with this newspaper, Meyer described Iván as a deeply cultured person and an excellent cook, who made potato omelette “but only for his team of cooks” with whom he worked.
Illarramendi’s face was one of those seen on the banners of a small group of Jewish protesters gathered at the door of the Jewish Community headquarters, protected by a strong security device of the national police and Israeli agents. Some are residents of Spain, others have come from Israel, as they told this newspaper, to ask for help in the release of the hostages.
The testimonies of the relatives of the kidnapped
Yulie Ben-Ami and her partner, Roberto Meyer: her parents (Ohad and Raz) were kidnapped in the Beerí kibbutz.
“I live in the kibbutz [comunidad agrícola judía] Be’eri, with my parents. I woke up at 6:20 in the morning to sounds of explosions. At half past we received a message saying that someone had entered the kibbutz. There were shouts in Arabic and many shots. At 9:30, my mother told me that the terrorists had entered. An hour later, we received a photo of my father wearing his pajamas in Gaza. Then, a video of my mother. We were still in the shelter with the lights off, without saying anything. We hear screams of children, of women. There were many shots fired throughout the day. At 8:42 p.m. the Army soldiers arrived to rescue us, along with my sister. The terrorists continued shooting. “I saw bodies of people from my community on the ground, burned cars.”
“My mother is sick, she needs medicine. We don’t know if she is receiving it, or how long she will be able to survive without it. We want them to be given the medicine so they can be well. We ask for everyone’s help. I miss them “They didn’t even do anything: children, mothers, elderly people. They don’t have to suffer this, they didn’t do anything, they are not to blame. We want the world’s help to be able to bring them back.”
Maayan Sigal-Koren: Five uncles and cousins were kidnapped in Nir Yitzhak.
“We have no information about their status. The Army says they know that their cell phones have arrived in Gaza. We started searching the terrorists’ channels to see if they were there, but we found nothing.”
“My mother always said that she decided to go to Israel because, as a Jew, she said that she did not feel safe in other places. For Jews, the best place to be safe was Israel. Now, after what happened to them, she no longer feels sure”.
“I have two children, five and eight years old. For two and a half weeks they have been asking me where their grandmother is. Why can’t we enter Gaza to bring her?”
“I come so that the international community does not remain silent, and helps us so that they return safely.”
Merav Mor Raviv: his uncle, his uncle’s wife, his cousin and his cousin’s son were kidnapped in the Nahal Oz kibbutz
“My uncle, Abraham, at 78 years old, is not in good health. He barely walks. His eyesight is not good either, he can hardly see. His wife is the same age as him. His daughter, 54 years old, no longer lived there, But just that weekend, as it was a holiday, he went with his only son, who turned nine last Monday. Now they are all kidnapped.”
“At around ten at night was the last communication. The older aunt whispered into the phone that she couldn’t talk because the terrorists were already there. We didn’t hear anything more.”
“My cousin, who lived in another house, was found dead, handcuffed and on the ground, shot. Of the community of 400 people, only 150 survived, and our family, the officers told us, were not among them. “
“One of the most tragic stories, which we know from Hamas’ own videos: they kidnapped a 14-year-old boy. They told him that they were not going to kill him. They made him go house to house telling people to get out, in Hebrew “As everyone knew him, the people did it and they killed them one by one. They also killed him. How do I know? Because they recorded everything.”
“They are stories like those of the Holocaust. Parents who were murdered in front of their own children. Some children are now in Gaza without their parents. We love peace, we want peace. My uncle participated in various programs and helped the children of Gaza to go to Israel to be treated for their illnesses.
Naama Weinberg: her cousin Itai Svirsky was kidnapped: Itai’s parents (Naama’s uncles), murdered.
“On October 7th I woke up in Tel Aviv to the sound of sirens. I looked at my cell phone to see if it was also ringing in the area near Gaza where his family lived. I turned on the television and watched the terrorist invasion. A message came in from my aunt, at 7:28 in the morning: please pray for us. Then another one: ‘we are inside the bunker with the lights off. They shoot around us.’ The shots sounded closer and closer, very close, the messages said. We had five relatives in the kibbutz. One hid in the closet. Another heard gunshots at the neighbors’ house. A friend sent me a message saying that his house was on fire, and that they were inside the shelter of the house. I cannot describe to you the feeling of helplessness I received when receiving these messages.”.
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“Then we discovered that some had died. Now the focus is Itai, who is the only one who can be saved. On that horrible Saturday, Itai lost his parents, brutally murdered by Hamas. Itai is 38 years old, and was raised in the Kibbutz Be’eri. He lives in Tel Aviv, but he went to visit his parents on weekends. Itai is a man of peace, love and humanist. He has dedicated his entire life to helping others. When you talked to him, “You couldn’t not fall in love. He was full of compassion. He practiced yoga, studied psychology at Tel Aviv University and was a coach.”
“We don’t know anything about him, but we have no doubt that his heart will be shining, even in the darkest place, and he will be trying to help others. Together we can get out of this devastation. We are impatiently awaiting his return. The problem of the 224 kidnapped is not just a problem for Israel, it is for the whole world. No one from the Red Cross has come to Gaza to see what is happening. No one has looked to see if they need help, if they care about their basic needs. We are talking about babies, “We ask for help: the duty belongs to the entire world, and it must be immediate. Hamas must be stopped today.”