Israelis pray for hostages held by Hamas on Yom Kippur

Hundreds of people have gathered in central Tel Aviv on what’s come to be known as ‘Hostages Square’ on Yom Kippur to pray for the Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October last year.

Yom Kippur is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar and calls on Jews to atone and repent for sins committed in the previous year.

Shay Dickmann, whose cousin Carmel Gat was killed in captivity, said she hoped the day of reflection would inspire action in solving the hostage crisis.

“I say today: don’t say that you’re sorry. Bring on a deal that will save the lives of the other hostages who can still be saved. Carmel survived 328 days in captivity before she was brutally murdered by her captors. Today is a day to think how can we act differently in order to avoid such horrors,” she said.

Hamas killed around 1,200 people and took a further 250 hostage during its 7 October incursion that sparked the war in Gaza.

Around 100 hostages remain in captivity, a third of whom are believed to be dead after most of the others were released during a week-long ceasefire in November.

Many protesters accuse the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of not doing enough to secure the hostages’ release and accuse him of putting his political survival above the lives of the captives.

Since the war in Gaza started in October, more than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed but the Hamas-run health ministry doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.