The families of hostages who are not on the list of hostages expected to be released from Sunday have spoken of their anguish over fears that their relatives will get left behind in Gaza.
Speaking outside the Save the Children headquarters in London on Thursday night, at a rally to mark hostage Kfir Bibas’ second birthday, Yotam Cohen, the brother of hostage Nimrod Cohen, said: “My brother’s fate is yet to be unsealed and to tell you the truth, I’m afraid. For the past 15 months, we’ve been fighting and struggling to get a glimmer of hope, and now we have a glimmer of hope, but we are afraid that this will fade away.
“Even now as we speak, there are some that are trying to sabotage and halt the deal. We must not allow them to succeed… I’m afraid to receive the news that negotiations have collapsed and we’re going to wait another year to get the other hostages back.”
Nimrod Cohen was abducted on October 7 by Hamas terrorists when he was 19 (Photo: X)
He urged supporters to keep on campaigning for the release of his brother and the other 65 who aren’t expected to be released in the first phase, adding: “It’s easy to allow ourselves to relax and sit and tell ourselves that this is over, the hostage deal was signed, but it’s not over. It will never be over until [all the] hostages are back home.”
His brother, who was 19 when he was abducted on October 7 by Hamas terrorists, had fought off terrorists on Kibbutzim Nir Oz and Nirim. “He fought to save … civilians. But his life cannot be sacrificed. He has to come home.”
Moshe Emilio Lavi, the brother-in-law of hostage Omri Miran told the crowd of some 300 supporters: “We are on the verge of a hostage deal that will hopefully see the release of Kfir, Ariel and the rest of the Bibas family, and hopefully see the release of 33 Israeli hostages in the first phase.
“But even after those 33 are released, we’ll have to keep advocating, keep fighting, to ensure that the other 65 hostages, people like my brother-in-law Omri, will return to their children, will return to their spouses, will return to their families.”
Omri Miran was abducted in front of his wife and two young children (Photo: X)
Omri, a shiatsu therapist, was 46 when he was abducted in his own car in front of his family from Kibbutz Nahal Oz. Lavi called on the Jewish community and its allies to “keep being our voice, keep being our shield – whether on the streets, social media, at your workplace, in your neighbourhood, everywhere you go – we need you with us because the world has forsaken us, the world has forsaken Kfir Bibas and the rest of the hostages who still remain in Hamas captivity.”
Former Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy said that he feared that “the Hamas terror regime is going to try to torture the conscience of the world and force a full Israeli withdrawal while leaving hostages inside Gaza, while leaving the fathers and brothers inside Gaza so it can keep them as insurance.
" It wants Israel to abandon Nimrod Cohen and the other young men and hold them as insurance as it plots another October 7.”
Campaigners with posters of Kfir BIbas, who was taken hostage at nine months by Hamas terrorists from Kibbutz Nir Oz (Photo: Gaby Wine)
He said that the only way to ensure release of all the hostages would be by applying global pressure. Chanting “Bring them home” “was not enough because on the other end are jihadi terrorists who need to let them go and don’t want to let them go”.
Levy called on rally-goers to campaign for the UK government to put pressure on Hamas and its patrons, Qatar, Turkey, Iran and South Africa “to let the hostages go”, adding: “Every time they say Hamas must release the hostages, you must ask them: ‘Or else what?’ Because a ‘must’ that is not followed by an ‘or else’ means nothing. There must be no one left behind.”
Orange balloons were released into the sky for Kfir Bibas (Photo: Gaby Wine)
Children’s toys, cupcakes, orange balloons and singing marked the sombre occasion, which was earlier disrupted by a protester barging through the crowd, shouting: ‘Free Palestine.’
A spokesperson for the organisers of the rally – the Hotsgaes and Missing Familes Forum UK, Remember 7.10 and the Israeli Embassy – said: “Unfortunately, just before the event began, an individual deliberately attacked the crowd. According to testimonies from eyewitnesses gathered by the organisers, a young anonymous man scouted the gathering for about 15 minutes before going to destroy a display of toys for Kfir, smashing personal belongings, and violently storming into a peaceful crowd, which was primarily composed of elderly individuals.”
He was removed by security and released without charge by the police after questioning, said Met officers.
Influencer and JC columnist Hen Mazzig said that while the rally was taking place outside the offices of Save the Children, “you could stand outside any humanitarian office really - all those humanitarian organisations that have failed us. We are sending a clear message: Right now, Kfir’s return from Gaza is beginning to take shape with an agreed deal, but every moment stolen from Kfir is a moment his family will never get back.”
Kfir Bibas was nine months when he, his brother, Ariel, four, and his parents Shiri and Yarden were abducted by Hamas terrorists from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
A photo of Kfir BIbas with a photo of his family (Photo: Gaby Wine)
Nivi Feldman, leader of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum UK, said: "We marked Kfir Bibas’ second birthday, but I am still waiting for the day we can celebrate it with him in person. We are holding onto hope, waiting for Kfir, his brother Ariel and all the hostages to come home. Our message remains clear: until the last hostage is free, we will not stop."
Save the Children has been approached for comment.
