On Monday, World Children’s Day, Israel tweeted a picture collage of the 40 Israelis under the age of 18 being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.
The day commemorates the Declaration of the Rights of the Child by the U.N. General Assembly on Nov. 20, 1959.
“They should be with their families. Not in a dark room somewhere in Gaza,” the statement on Israel’s official X account reads.
On Oct. 7, thousands of Hamas terrorists stormed the Israeli border and invaded the northwestern Negev, murdering 1,200 persons, wounding more than 5,000 and taking some 240 people back to Gaza as hostages.
One of the Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip has likely given birth in captivity, Israel said on Nov. 13.
The woman was nine months pregnant when Palestinian terrorists abducted her on Oct. 7.
The youngest hostage is Kfir Bibas, who was 9 months old when he was taken to Gaza with his parents and a sibling.
Israel’s education system is holding a series of events coinciding with World Children’s Day to bring attention to the captured youth. These include replacing school bells in high and middle schools with the song “Coming Home” performed by Shir Yaakov and singer-songwriter Keren Peles.
Shir Yaakov’s father Yair, his partner Merav Tal and Shir’s two young brothers, Yagil and Or, were kidnapped on Oct. 7.
Educational institutions will facilitate discussions with students on Monday along with preparing outreach activities to promote awareness of the plight of the abducted children among the international community.
“These moves are intended to instill a spirit of hope in the students and to give them the opportunity to be actively involved in a meaningful way in the national efforts to return the kidnapped students to their homes and to their families,” the Education Ministry said in a statement.
