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Mobile ad campaign in Manhattan marks 500 days of hostages in Gaza

“They are being kept under horrific, inhumane conditions in tunnels beneath Gaza. We demand: Let them go,” stated Ofir Akunis, consul general of Israel in New York.

Consulate General of Israel in New York
Image of a Consulate General of Israel in New York mobile ad campaign marking 500 days of hostages in Gaza, Feb. 18, 2025. Credit: Consulate General of Israel in New York.

Pedestrians walk along a busy street in Manhattan and cars drive past, as a black truck displays large images of the hostages, whom Hamas holds in Gaza. Digital images on the side of the truck display, in orange and white text, “500 Days in Hamas’s Hell.”

The Consulate General of Israel in New York posted video footage of its ad campaign, which marks 500 days since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack in southern Israel.

“We remind the people of New York and the world that 73 hostages—men, women and children—are still being held by Hamas, an organization no different from the Nazis,” stated Ofir Akunis, consul general of Israel in New York.

“They are being kept under horrific, inhumane conditions in tunnels beneath Gaza. We demand: Let them go,” he added.

The campaign, per the consulate, serves “as a stark reminder of the urgency and moral obligation we all share to bring all the hostages home.”

The truck was scheduled to drive around Manhattan, mostly midtown, on Tuesday, the consulate told JNS.

“Today, we also bow our heads and salute the 846 fallen heroes from all battlefronts—brave soldiers who fought to defend the State of Israel against its barbaric enemies,” the consulate stated.

The truck ad comes 10 days after a consulate ad in Times Square also raised awareness about the hostages.

Izzy Salant is a Los Angeles-based journalist and social media/digital marketing manager at JNS.
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