A 10-month-old Israeli baby, named Kfir, has been held hostage by Hamas for more than 50 days now and his extended family is desperate for the infant’s release amid the ongoing truce and prisoner-hostage exchange between Israel and Hamas.
During the October 7 Hamas attack — thousands of rockets fired at Israel, communities infiltrated, hundreds taken hostage — that triggered the current conflict, 10-month-old baby Kfir, his 4-year-old sibling, and their parents were kidnapped by the Palestinian militant group.
Videos in circulation after the Hamas attack showed the Israeli mother Shiri looking terrified, as she was shoved into a Hamas vehicle with her children as hostages. The Israeli father Yarden was seen in a video with a serious head injury, said the news agency Reuters, citing family sources.
Hamas has taken several Israeli children and teenagers hostage, some of whom have been released over the past few days. Till yesterday, some 50 Israeli women and children were freed by Hamas, besides 19 foreign hostages. In exchange, Israel has released 150 Palestinian prisoners and allowed aid convoys to enter Gaza.
The Palestinian extremist outfit has been releasing videos showing Israeli hostages waving at their Hamas captors while being set free. The Israel Defense Forces have refuted these videos, stating that these hostages were forced at gunpoint by Hamas to make these gestures.
Meanwhile, India, which is being persuaded by Israel to declare Hamas as a banned organisation, has welcomed the release of the hostages until now and called for the immediate and unconditional release of those still held in captivity by the militant group.
India asserted that there could be “no justification for terrorism and hostage-taking”.
“We are gathered today at a time when the security situation in the Middle East is deteriorating due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, with large-scale loss of civilian lives, especially women and children and an alarming humanitarian crisis. This is clearly unacceptable and we have indeed strongly condemned the death of civilians,” said India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj yesterday.
In her remarks to the UN General Assembly plenary meeting on ‘Question of Palestine and the Situation in the Middle East’, Kamboj said that in addressing this humanitarian crisis, it was necessary for all parties to display utmost responsibility. “We are aware that the immediate trigger was the terror attacks in Israel on October 7, which were shocking and deserve our unequivocal condemnation. There can be no justification for terrorism and hostage-taking,” she said.
Kamboj said that India welcomed the news of the release of the hostages, and also called for the immediate and unconditional release of the remaining hostages. “India has a zero-tolerance approach to terrorism. We also believe that there is a universal obligation to observe international humanitarian law,” she said.
Further into her speech at the plenary meeting, the Indian Permanent Representative said, “We firmly believe that only a two-state solution, achieved through direct and meaningful negotiations between both sides on final status issues, will deliver an enduring peace that the people of Israel and Palestine desire and deserve.”
She reiterated India’s continued support to the Palestinian people through the bilateral development partnership, which covered a wide range of sectors including health, education, women’s empowerment, entrepreneurship and information technology, and said that Delhi would also continue to send humanitarian assistance to the people of Palestine.
— With inputs from the Press Trust of India
