Daily TribuneIsrael has been consistent in pressing for the release of all the 239 hostages, as the ambassador said since shortly after their abduction, nothing was heard about them
PHOTOGRAPH BY Alvin Kasiban FOR THE DAILY TRIBUNE
Israel is not putting a timeline in meeting its target of freeing all the 239 hostages, including two Filipinos, or ending the armed conflict with Hamas terrorists as "the war was imposed on us," Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss said.
In a presentation to the media last Monday, Fluss gave an update on the progress of the more than one-month war while pressing for the release of the Hamas hostages, including 33 children.
Nobody knows if they are alive or if they remain as hostages, which is the reason for Israel to demand that Hamas allows the Red Cross to check on them.
"Israel also wants the international community to put pressure on Hamas to release the hostages and to stop the terrorists from their agenda of murdering Jews," Fluss said.
"We must make sure that Hamas will not happen again," he added.
Innocents murdered, abducted
"Just think about it, it is not human. The message is, release the hostages, release the children. Let them go home," Fluss added.
The ambassador then pointed to a poster of a baby who was among the children still being held by the terrorists.
"The real picture is the 10-month-old baby that was kidnapped, taken from his home. For me, this is really the story."
The baby is Kfir Bibas, who was nine months old when he was abducted together with his parents and four-year-old sibling five weeks ago.
"This is an ongoing campaign. This war was imposed on Israel, and it is a response to a murderous terrorist attack and butchering," Fluss said.
Also presented to the media were video recordings, which were mostly confiscated from the 7 October marauders by the Israeli Defense Forces.
Fluss said some had sensitive graphic content, prompting the embassy not to release them to the media.
Among the distressing recordings is a father rushing his two sons, not even in their teens, to go into their home's small bomb shelter.
Two Hamas terrorists chased them and threw a grenade into the room. Shortly after, the two boys had blood all over, and one of them with his eyeball hanging from the socket.
The injured children kept on crying Daddy while one of the terrorists nonchalantly grabbed a juice drink from the family's refrigerator before leaving.
The father died after covering his two children from the blast to let them live.
Israeli authorities have been working in the past month to identify the victims who were slaughtered in their homes, on the streets, and at a music festival.
Some of them were burned, mutilated, and tortured, as shown in the footages.
Help for affected Filipinos
During the carnage, three Filipino caregivers died — Paul Vincent Castelvi, Angelyn Peralta Aguirre, and another whom the family requested not to be identified.
Fluss said the embassy cares about overseas Filipino workers working in Israel, and they are treated as part of the Israeli family.
