‘This is my war now’: Families of hostages taken by Hamas continue push for their release

After a meeting between Israeli war cabinet ministers and a handful of family members on Monday evening, one of the attendees, Udi Goren, whose cousin Tel Haimi is currently being held by Hamas in Gaza, said he hoped Israel’s government would prioritize the return of the hostages first and foremost.
Meanwhile, the father of a young Irish Israeli girl who was kidnapped by Hamas militants during the incursion into Israel on Oct. 7 and has spent her ninth birthday in captivity said, “I pray I get Emily back,” adding, “That’s my prime focus, my reason for living, for getting up in the morning every day.”
Relatives of some of the 240 people held by Hamas in Gaza urged far-right Israeli lawmakers not to pursue proposed capital punishment for captured Palestinian militants and chanted, “Whoever saves one soul is as if he saved the whole world.”
For Lishay Lavi, it feels like almost yesterday that her husband was abducted right in front of her own eyes by Hamas gunmen. “We need him back. Roni and Alma need him back, so this is my war now,” she said.