Families of Israeli hostages raise cry for help in Brussels

Relatives of Israeli hostages appealed to the European Union and the international community at a press conference in the European district of Brussels on Tuesday. They described the kidnapping of their loved ones and asked for more help to free their relatives as soon as possible from the hands of the extremist organisation Hamas.

The purpose of the press conference in Brussels was to give a face to the 134 hostages still trapped somewhere in Gaza. The public must get to know the people who were kidnapped more than four months ago, said relatives of the hostages. 

"This is a nightmare that has been going on for four months"

They described how they found out that their children, spouses or other loved ones had been kidnapped, the emotions they endured and the uncertainty they felt. "For all the families, this is a nightmare that has been going on for four months," said Lishay Lavi, wife of 46-year-old Omri Miran. "We don't know anything about our family members."

Lavi recounted the experience of her two daughters, aged 10 months and 2.5 years. "My two and a half year old daughter knows everything," she said. "She talks to the other children in the nursery about the terrorist who pointed a gun at her. And every night, before she goes to sleep, she goes outside: 'Sleep well, daddy,' she says, 'we're waiting for you and we miss you'."

"The war will not stop until they are back home"

Haim Regev, Israel's ambassador to the European Union and NATO, supported the families at the press conference: "From the first day of the war we received fantastic support from the EU, but we need more support, more pressure from the EU and the international community so that the hostages are released as soon as possible. The war will not stop until they are back home".