Gaza has become ‘a killing field’ due to Israel blocking aid, says UN secretary general – Middle East crisis live | Middle East and north Africa

The mother of an Israeli soldier held hostage in Gaza told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that she fears that Israel’s renewed bombardment of the territory puts his life at even greater risk.

“Our children are in danger,” Herut Nimrodi told AFP during an interview. Her son, Tamir, was 18 when he was taken to Gaza on 7 October 2023. “We don’t know much, but one thing that is certain is that military pressure on Gaza endangers the hostages,” she said.

Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel, 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

A truce that lasted from 19 January to 17 March led to the return of 33 Israeli hostages – eight of them in coffins – in exchange for the release of about 1,800 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

But on 18 March, after weeks of disagreement with Hamas over how to extend the ceasefire, Israel resumed large-scale military operations in the Gaza Strip, beginning with heavy bombardments.

Tamir, a soldier with Cogat, the Israeli military body that oversees civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories, sent his mother a message on 7 October about the thousands of rockets that Hamas began launching at dawn that day. He was taken hostage 20 minutes later, along with two other soldiers killed two months later inside Gaza, under unknown circumstances, reports AFP.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government insist that increased military pressure is the only way to force Hamas to release the hostages, dead or alive.

“For a year and a half, that hasn’t worked. What’s worked is negotiations and pressure [from US President Donald Trump],” said Nimrodi, accusing Israel of not prioritising the return of the hostages.

Tamir, who turned 20 in captivity, is one of 24 hostages believed to be alive, though no proof of life has been sent since his abduction.

His mother regularly joins other hostage families at rallies in Tel Aviv, though they do not all agree on the best strategy to secure their return, reports AFP. Some, like Tzvika Mor, whose son was abducted at the Nova music festival, believe that strength rather than negotiation is the way to proceed.

“Hamas will never free the hostages out of the goodness of their heart and without military pressure,” he said. A founder of the Tikva forum – which means “hope” in Hebrew – Mor said, “every time Hamas says ’time out’, the government negotiates instead of increasing pressure to free all hostages at once”.