Hamas terrorists kidnap around 200 people into the Gaza Strip. Families fear for their loved ones without knowing whether they are still alive. Before his visit to Israel, they ask the Chancellor for help.
Relatives of German hostages have called on Chancellor Olaf Scholz to work to free those kidnapped from the Gaza Strip. The families want to meet with Scholz in Tel Aviv this evening. Afterwards, a press conference with relatives of twelve missing people with German citizenship is planned (7:30 p.m. CEST), representatives of the group said. The Chancellor is expected to pay a solidarity visit to Israel today.
Terrorists on behalf of the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas, which rules in the Gaza Strip, carried out a massacre of civilians in border towns and at a music festival around ten days ago. It was the worst bloodbath in Israeli history. More than 1,400 people died during and in the following days. According to the army, at least 199 others were forcibly taken to the Gaza Strip, including several Germans.
No direct contact
The Foreign Office speaks of a total of eight missing person cases, although one case could also include several family members. The government does not give the exact number. The majority are said to have both German and Israeli citizenship. According to Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, the government has “no direct” contact with those held in the Gaza Strip.
Several relatives have already turned to the public and asked for help:
Ten members of the Haran family were apparently kidnapped in the bloody Hamas attack on the town of Beeri. Including four with Israeli and German citizenship: Shoshan Haran (65), Adi Shoham (30), Naveh Shoham (8) and Yahel Gani Shoham (3). According to the family, their home was set on fire by attackers.
In addition to the Haran family, Yoni Asher also fears for his relatives. According to him, his wife Doron (34), his two daughters Aviv (2) and Raz (4), his mother Efrat (68) and her husband Gadi (79) were loaded onto a delivery truck and kidnapped to Gaza. All of them are German citizens, but his daughters Aviv and Raz have not yet been issued a passport. Margalit Berta Moses (77) is also among the missing.
Hope for help from Germany
35-year-old Yarden Romann is apparently also among those abducted. According to her family, the granddaughter of Jews who fled Germany was dragged into a car with her husband and little daughter by Hamas attackers in Beeri and kidnapped. The three initially managed to escape, but were separated while fleeing. Contact with Romann broke off completely, her husband and daughter hid in the bushes and survived. They are now hoping for help from Germany.
The mother of 22-year-old Shani Louk has also called on the federal government to take action. Louk was taken hostage at a music festival in the Negev Desert. The last pictures of her are said to show her lifeless in the back of a truck surrounded by Hamas terrorists. The family, part of which lives in Baden-Württemberg, assumes that the young woman is seriously injured but alive. However, her mother recently said that no one has been able to “confirm 100%” to the family that the information about her daughter’s condition is correct.
Source: Stern
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