An unprecedented event took place Thursday, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Families Headquarters reported.
A Families Headquarters delegation to the conference met Thursday with around 150 of the most senior CEOs in the global economy, and the CEOs participated in a meeting with Hamas hostage survivors.
Among the participants were: Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, Dell CEO Michael Dell, Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg, AWS CEO Adam Selipsky, Publicis Groupe global president Maurice Levy, Bank of Israel chief Amir Yaron, Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat, Yossi Vardi, Eyal Waldman, Eitan Wertheimer and many more.
The event was led by Palantir Technologies, whose owner and CEO Alex Karp is one of Israel's biggest supporters in Silicon Valley, and with the support of Israel's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Meirav Eilon Shahar.
Hostage survivors as well as families of hostages came to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. On Wednesday night, an evening meeting was held with 150 heads of the largest companies in the world. Nili Margalit and Moran Stela Yanai, who were released from Hamas captivity, told participants about the hostages they left behind and the urgent need to reach a deal to bring them home before it is too late. In addition, Rachel Goldberg Polin, whose son Hersh is being held captive in Gaza after having his arm amputated, asked all influential participants to leverage their global connections to immediately advance a deal without delay.
Nili Margalit, who was kidnapped from her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz and released from captivity, said: "When I was kidnapped, I was taken straight into an underground tunnel where I was held for 55 days until I was released. But most of the people I was with in the tunnels are still being held deep underground, and they are terrified and wounded."
"In my profession I am a nurse in a children's emergency room, and I understood that even there I must help and treat those around me. But without medical supplies it's an almost impossible task.
"In addition to injuries and illness, there is not enough air to breathe, not enough food and no basic hygiene. The body is so weak that any disease can kill you.
"Imagine what it's like for an 80-year-old man with heart disease, hard of hearing and seeing, sleeping on a mattress," she described.
Margalit continued, "I stand before you today to testify about the hell I experienced. I am here to make their voices heard: Tell their story and make sure you do everything you can to advance their release."
"The hostages could die any day! Every hour is dangerous for them," she concluded.
Moran Stela Yanai, who was abducted from the Nova music festival in Re’im and released from Hamas captivity, recounted, "On October 7th I was kidnapped from the Nova music festival and in that moment, I lost everything: control over my life, my freedom, my identity, my self."
"We cannot accept the possibility of being abducted from a music festival and not coming back from it as a normal possibility. Because if not all the hostages come back, from now on every citizen in the world has to be afraid to go dancing at festivals!
"I was released, but I promised my friends I left behind in captivity that I would do everything I could to bring them back. Unfortunately, last night I received notice of the murder of two of my friends there - friends I was with together during the dark days in Gaza."
Yanai emphasized, "The terrorists are watching TV for anything happening in the world that will have an immediate impact on the daily lives of the hostages, so I appeal to you. I believe you can apply pressure and lead to ending this suffering."
Noam Peri, daughter of Haim Peri who was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz and is still held captive by Hamas, added: "We cannot refer to the events of October 7th as a past event, because it is still happening and has not ended!"
She noted that "136 people are still being held in terrible conditions, some undergoing daily rape and sexual assault and we have testimonies to that."
"Four weeks ago a video was released by Hamas in which I could see my father but today I do not know if he is still alive.
"We hear of progress towards a potential deal led by Qatar and the US - this is the crunch time, and we cannot miss this chance. We need you, influential people of the world, people of power.
"Try to imagine it was your father or daughter being dragged from their bedroom by terrorists and held in Gaza tunnels for 103 days already.
"What would you do to save them?
"The barbaric kidnapping, torture and rape of innocent civilians by Hamas is an obstacle to progress and if we do not defeat this globally, Hamas will set humanity back hundreds of years."
Israel's Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Meirav Eilon Shahar, noted: "Hamas terrorists still hold 136 hostages, and we are working in every possible way to return them home immediately. The Davos gathering is an opportunity to enlist international business leaders to apply further pressure for the release of all hostages."
Eyal Waldman, Israeli entrepreneur whose daughter Danielle and her boyfriend Noam were murdered on October 7th at the music festival in Re’im, said: "Israel's paramount priority is to return all the hostages and it does this by negotiating in every possible way with various third parties, countries and sides."
"As is well known in the business world, talks on good negotiation are extremely difficult and are characterized by lose-lose situations, where both sides feel they have left something on the table.
"But no matter how painful the price, there is no price on the lives of the Gaza hostages - however painful, we must strive for a negotiated deal."