Families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas inside Gaza appeared with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle Tuesday in Washington, D.C., to raise awareness for their loved ones, with one relative describing how a child celebrated his ninth birthday in captivity of terrorists.
Itay Raviv, speaking on the one-month anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war that began on Oct. 7, said getting the hostages released "should be the top priority of the entire world" and the "No. 1 thing that everyone discusses."
"We don't know again what their condition is. Ohad [Munder-Zichri] had a birthday two weeks ago on Oct. 23. He turned 9. He's a smart, sweet boy who plays soccer and tennis and is very lovable," Raviv said. "And he shouldn't have spent his ninth birthday in captivity. He should not be in captivity at all."
Boaz Atzali then spoke about his 49-year-old cousin, Aviv, and wife Liat, whom he says adopted a three-legged special needs dog that was killed by Hamas militants during the Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel.
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He told reporters in Washington that the killing of the animal demonstrates "what kind of cruelty" Hamas is capable of.
Atzali said what "breaks his heart" is that the couple has three kids, who now "lost both their parents on the same day."
"They don't know if they will ever see them again. They don't know if they will get to hug them again," he added.
At an event earlier with House Republican lawmakers, Doris Liber – the mother of Guy Iluz, a 26-year-old being held hostage – said the last words she heard on the phone from her son who was attending the music festival in southern Israel that was attacked by Hamas were "we are not going to survive it, nobody survived it, everybody was killed."
"And I try to, tell him, 'Guy, I love you,'" she continued. "Don't worry. Nothing's going to happen... I'm going to send somebody now to get you. And that's what I did. I hung up and I regret that since I didn't hear from him since."
FAMILIES OF HAMAS HOSTAGES PLEAD FOR US ACTION
"I'm here because it's been 30 days. Every day is like eternity to me. And I can't wait any longer because I know that he was shot," Liber added. "We don't have a list of the hostages. We don't know their condition. I don't have anything, so I need your help."
Yonatan Lulu-Shamriz, whose brother Alon is being held hostage, said on Oct. 7 that his younger brother wrote him a message saying terrorists entered his house in southern Israel.
"I wrote him that I love him and he's strong. He send me a heart emoji. And that's the last time we spoke," he said.
"We need help now. We don't know what is their condition. This is a call for action. And this is a wake-up call not only for Israel, not only for the Jewish community," Yonatan Lulu-Shamriz added.
"This is a wake-up of all of you here, all of America, all of Europe. You are next. You are next. And we should do everything that we can to stop this atrocity."
