PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Hamas still holds about 100 Israelis hostage, 135 days into the Israel-Hamas war. An organization that wants everyone to remember those men, women and children is hosting weekly demonstrations in Center City to call for their immediate release.
About two-dozen members of the Philadelphia chapter of Run for Their Lives met up in Rittenhouse Square on Sunday morning. Members of the group meet every Sunday at 8:55 a.m., and they walk for 18 minutes. That’s because letters in Hebrew have a numerical value attached to them, and the values of the letters that spell “chai,” or “life,” add up to 18.
“It’s like something you can do from afar to try and raise awareness and remind people the war is still going on and people are still being held hostage,” said Jordie Yoshor, co-chair of the Philly branch.
While Yoshor’s work is thousands of miles away from Israel, she says Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023, hit close to home. Militants crossed the border with Israel and killed 1,200 people and took about 250 more hostage.
“I was there when the war broke out. It was terrifying, like awful. Like, I thought I was gonna die. Even though I probably wasn’t, but it’s just really scary,” Yoshor said.
Even thousands of miles away, it’s important to speak up, says Yael Mosenco, an Israeli woman from Wynnewood. “I think it is possible to put enough pressure — all countries, all people, from Europe, from the U.S. — I think they can make it happen.”
In November, during a temporary six-day cessation of warfare, negotiations with Hamas resulted in the release of about 100 hostages.
Rebecka Hess of West Philly says the plight of the hostages who remain hidden away somewhere in Gaza weighs on her heavily.
“I think of the people that were taken from their homes, violently, and I think of the 135 days they’ve been away from their homes,” Hess said.
“I think about it daily. And when I told myself it was too cold today, I thought that they were in a worse state.”
Yoshor says she takes some comfort in the organization’s sense of community: “It’s really meaningful, because it’s like a support system, also. Like, you’re all here for the same reason. You all want the same thing. Like, it’s just nice to come together and do something.”
A week ago, Israeli forces rescued two more hostages in Rafah, killing at least 74 Palestinians in the process, according to health officials there. Israeli military forces have killed more than 28,000 Palestinians since Oct. 7.