IDF spokesman Brigadier General Daniel Hagar, during a morning briefing on the situation on the operations, revised upwards the number of hostages held in Gaza. Until now, the figure of 222 hostages was circulating, but it has risen to 229. "We have conveyed a message to the families of the 229 abductees, I repeat, 229 abductees," he said.
According to him, this figure is evolving. "I mentioned yesterday that some of this information is related to our additional identifications, emerging intelligence, some of that is happening because of the operational activity that we are conducting and some of that is also related to the location of foreign citizens who are not in Israel. All of this brings us to the number I mentioned, 229 abductees. The number of abductees changes and is updated. We will keep the families informed with the intelligence information we have."
Don't forget the hostages
"The return of abductees to their homes is an absolute priority. We continue to invest the maximum amount of civilian, operational and intelligence efforts," he added.
VIDEO. 30 empty strollers in front of the Eiffel Tower to demand the release of the hostage children
Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, families and volunteers are taking turns in front of the army headquarters to distribute yellow ribbons to motorists, to be tied so as not to forget the hostages. "Talking about them is all we can do as a family," say Léa and Léon Yanai. Their younger sister, 40-year-old Moran Stela Yanai, was selling her handcrafted jewelry at the rave party that was stormed on Oct. 7. The almond-eyed brunette reappeared in a Hamas video posted on TikTok on Sunday. She is seen prostrate near a rock, chin on her knees, under the menacing surveillance of her jailers. Since then, "nothing".