Some 300 people gathered outside the Qatari embassy in London on Sunday, demanding the immediate and safe return of the hostages whom Hamas terrorists kidnapped on Oct. 7.
“This is a cry for help,” Orit Eyal Fibeesh, one of the event’s organizers, told JNS.
She added that as the window of opportunity narrows for the release of the hostages, some of whom are elderly and have pre-existing medical conditions, the group will continue to raise awareness about the hostages and exert pressure until they are safely returned.
Eyal Biram, an M.B.A. student who was another one of the event organizers, told JNS that Qatar is a “key negotiator” and a “bridge” with the United States in negotiations for the release of the hostages.
Biram told JNS that he knows nine people whom Hamas terrorists killed on Oct. 7. He told the Jewish Chronicle that “people internationally are not speaking enough about the hostages” and “we feel the world has forgotten.”
The crowd held up Israeli flags and posters with images of victims and their ages. A recording stated the names and ages of the known hostages.
Demonstrators, who sang “Am Yisrael Chai” and chanted “Bring Them Home,” formed a human chain outside the embassy.
Police officers were present. The event was briefly disrupted when a passerby screamed “Free Palestine.”
“We want these hostages to be returned and we came to give solidarity this time as the atrocity is unimaginable,” Hayley Ace, of Christian Action Against Antisemitism, told JNS.
Last week, Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi was criticized for praising Qatar’s efforts to free hostages.
Qatar is not “an essential partner for humanitarian operations and diplomatic operations,” said former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. “Qatar is the enemy itself.”
“Qatar finances, assists and strengthens the terrorist organization Hamas-ISIS,” he added.
