Tel Aviv: Dozens of residents of Kfar Aza hold rally, call for return of hostages

TEL AVIV: Dozens of people from Kfar Aza, one of the areas most severely damaged by Hamas’ October 7 attacks on southern Israel, have been carrying out protests in Tel Aviv on Thursday, The Times of Israel reported.

Hamas killed numerous kibbutz residents and kidnapped several others.

The locals demand that the government take all necessary steps to release the hostages by holding rallies, as they raised placards and slogans regarding the same, The Times of Israel reported.

“Our hearts are captive in Gaza,” read the sign. Several others held pictures of their loved ones too, while carrying out the protests.

Earlier today, the Israel Defence Forces said it has struck and killed the head of Hamas’s North Khan Younis rocket array, Hassan al-Abdullah. The Israeli forces said that the airstrike was carried out following intelligence information on al-Abdullah’s whereabouts, gathered by the Shin Bet security agency and Military Intelligence Directorate, according to The Times of Israel.

The IDF also posted a video showing some of the recent airstrikes on social media platform X and wrote, “IDF fighter jets carried out a precise air strike based on IDF and ISA intelligence and eliminated the Commander of Hamas’ Northern Khan Yunis Rockets Array, Hassan Al-Abdullah.”

Moreover, according to The Times of Israel, the IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the military has so far notified the families of 224 hostages that their loved ones are being held in the Gaza Strip.

He says the number is not final as the military continues to investigate new information.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Tuesday had asked Gaza residents to share verified, valuable information about hostages being held in their area.

“If your will is to live in peace and to have a better future for your children, do the humanitarian deed immediately and share verified and valuable information about hostages being held in your area,” the IDF asked Gaza residents.

“The Israeli military assures you that it will invest maximum effort in providing security for you and your home, and you will receive a financial reward. We guarantee you complete confidentiality,” the IDF wrote on ‘X’.

“The contact details are: Secure phone call: *8619; Whatsapp, Telegram, Signal:+972503957992,” the IDF said.

The IDF on Saturday also said that “Civilians and hospitals in Gaza need fuel to produce electricity. Hamas has that fuel.”

An IDF spokesman wrote: “Hamas continues to make its claims of its inability to supply hospitals, bakeries, and civilians with fuel. They steal diesel from civilians and transfer it to their tunnels, bombers, and commanders.”

Meanwhile, one of the two hostages recently freed by Hamas, Yocheved Lifshitz, has said she “went through hell” after being kidnapped by the terrorist group in the October 7 attack on Israel, CNN reported.

The 85-year-old on Tuesday remembered the moment she was abducted by gunmen on motorbikes after militants broke into her home in the Kibbutz Nir Oz.

Lifshitz said: “It was difficult but we will get through this.” She made the remarks at the Tel Aviv hospital where she has been recovering since being freed.

Hamas released Lifshitz and her neighbour and friend Nurit Cooper, 79, on Monday, and later they were reunited with family members who rushed to their bedside at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv.

The release of the two women brings the total number of captives freed to four, but more than 200 hostages are believed to be trapped in Gaza, some within the labyrinth of Hamas tunnels dug beneath the coastal strip.

The remaining hostages include Lifshitz and Cooper’s husbands, Oded Lifshitz, 83, and Amiram Cooper, 85. (ANI)