Sisters of female hostages convened a special press conference this evening (Wednesday) in which they called to release the young women in the upcoming rounds of release. They accused those responsible: "Hamas-ISIS bears sole responsibility for their physical and mental health. Women's organizations have failed in their role. They are in real and present danger of death; they must be released now."
Yarden Gonen, sister of Romi Gonen, who was kidnapped from the festival in Re’im, stated: "My sister was kidnapped after being shot while watching her best friend being murdered. To all the women in the world, we should not have to explain what it means to be a woman, what it means to walk in the street and feel there is a threat to my life at any given moment. Imagine how a woman hostage feels. She has no time. It's in your hands, I and all the women here beside me are doing everything we can to return them, I demand that you do the same."
Sasha Ariev, sister of Karina Ariev, said: "In my last phone call with my sister, she already seemed to know what was happening and said to me, 'If I die, continue with your life, look after our parents, keep living'. Every minute, every second that my sister is, there is a danger to her life, a danger to the lives of them all, to all the girls with her. These girls must return; they will be the voice of women and of all hostages and of all those who did not survive this hell - they will memorialize and remind us."
Shira Goren, sister of Shani Goren: "After the testimonies of the girls who returned from captivity, there is no room for doubt; they do not have time; their time is running out. We must return all of them, and all of them immediately."
Yamit Ashkenazi, sister of Doron Steinbrecher: "On October 7th at 6:30 in the morning, we woke up to hell in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Doron wrote that she was really scared, hiding under the bed and blocking the door, hoping that would save her. She heard the terrorists outside and hoped the first-response team would arrive. My family was abandoned on October 7th, and all the hostages were also abandoned. I will not let anyone abandon my sister again."
Shani Yerushalmi, sister of Eden Yerushalmi: "Eden is a girl everyone loves, always happy, always laughing. That same day, she called us frightened, hiding in a car for an hour as her best friends bled to death beside her. She was afraid to cry; her voice broke, I asked her not to cry so they wouldn't hear her. We started hearing voices in Arabic and decided to record the call; she whispered, "They're catching me," and we knew those were her last moments. A young woman who just came to work, and it's already been 50 days that she's been there, and we don't know her situation."