Today, World Human Rights Day, families and supporters of hostages held in Gaza travelled between the Turkish, Qatari and Egyptian Embassies in specially designed bus featuring images and stories of the nine British-linked hostages.
The initiative was organized by the Hostages Families Forum UK with support from Stop The Hate UK. Participants, dressed in symbolic attire including yellow blindfolds, carried messages of hope and determination, to share their plea for the three ambassadors to assist in facilitating an urgent deal to release all of the hostages.
None of the ambassadors agreed to meet with the families, or be photographed with the peaceful participants of the rally.
Currently, 100 hostages from over 20 nationalities remain in captivity Gaza, including nine with British connections: Emily Damari, Eli Sharabi, Yossi Sharabi, Avinatan Or, Tsachi Idan, Shay Levinson, Keith Siegel, Ilan Weiss and Oded Lifshitz. These hostages, alongside 91 others, have endured captivity for over 424 days and they have not been visited by any international aid organizations.