JERUSALEM: Relatives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza will mark the start of Passover, a week-long festival that celebrates freedom, with a renewed plea to the government to make a deal to return their missing loved ones.
Passover, starting on Monday (Apr 22) evening, is traditionally observed with a Seder, a holiday feast when families gather and celebrate the biblical account of the Israelites’ freedom from Egyptian slavery.
This year, many families in Israel are expected to leave empty seats at the table to represent those killed or taken hostage in the Hamas attacks of Oct 7 last year.
Rachel Goldberg-Polin’s 23-year-old son Hersh was captured and taken to Gaza after his arm was blown off on Oct 7 when Hamas fighters attacked the Supernova music festival in southern Israel. She said this year’s Passover would be more profound than ever and urged the government to find a way to return the hostages.
“All of the symbolic things we do at the Seder will take on a much more profound and deep meaning this year,” Goldberg-Polin, a dual citizen of Israel and the United States, told reporters.
She would be participating in a Seder with friends and family, but they have been clear if they are unable to do it or “if 15 minutes in, we just can’t do it, and we need to cry, then we will cry”.
Hamas fighters killed some 1,200 people and abducted another 253, on Oct 7, according to Israeli tallies, triggering the war in Gaza in which more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza health authorities.
