WEST PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Dotting the skyline Sunday on the top of the Belmont Plateau in Fairmount Park were yellow kites, flown by people of all ages.
Underneath them on the ground were a long line of photos that showed pictures of people taken hostage or killed by Hamas on Oct. 7.
Sunday marked the six-month mark since that day, the beginning of the Israel-Hamas War.
Yellow flowers were attached to every photo to match the yellow kites flying above in Fairmount Park. Dafna Ofer, one of the organizers of the rally, said both represented the release of the hostages.
“We want people to know it's not just numbers. There's people behind it, those people have likes and dislikes, and they were people just like you and me,” she said. “One day, they woke up, you know, I guess on the wrong side of life and they were kidnapped from their own beds and homes.”
Ofner said a kite festival was also planned in Israel on Oct. 7, but a main organizer, his wife and their three children were part of the 1,200 killed in Hamas’ original attack.
According to health officials in Gaza, more than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s response to that initial attack.
Devorah Selver, originally from Israel, was one of many in attendance at the rally in Fairmount Park. She said one of her cousins was killed in Hamas’ attack and another has been a hostage for the last six months.
“Like everybody else, we don't really know if they're alive, not alive,” she said. “We are just hoping.”