Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Thursday marked 300 days of war against the Hamas terrorist group with an appeal for the international community to increase efforts to secure the release of 115 hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip.
“For 300 days our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, grandparents, have been languishing in the dungeons of Hamas in Gaza. Each second of every minute of every hour of these 300 days is a crime against humanity. And each second that passes the need to bring them home becomes more and more urgent,” said Herzog.
“To all the leaders of the world who wish for peace in our region, I say clearly: help us bring our hostages home—all of them, young and old, men and women, Jews, Muslims and more. Help us bring them home now,” he added.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Hamas’s assertion that Jerusalem is preventing a ceasefire agreement with new conditions and demands.
“Israel neither changed, nor added any condition to, the [ceasefire proposal] outline. On the contrary, as of now it is Hamas which has demanded 29 changes and has not responded to the original outline,” said Netanyahu.
“Israel stands on its principles according to the original outline: Maximizing the number of living hostages, Israeli control over the Philadelphi Corridor [on Gaza’s border with Egypt] and preventing the passage of terrorists, weapons and ammunition to the northern Gaza Strip,” he added.
Israeli officials told reporters that they were “rather pessimistic” after Mossad chief David Barnea returned from Rome following a two-hour mediation meeting in the Italian capital on Sunday.
According to the same report, Israel is demanding to see a list of the hostages still living before signing a deal. Jerusalem in recent days has transferred to Qatar and Egypt a list of abductees that fall under the humanitarian category, with a senior Israeli official telling reporters that at least 30 of the people on the list are still alive.
