Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and the families of the abductees met last night with Belgium's foreign minister, who maintains ties with Iran, in an attempt to enlist it in a diplomatic move on the issue. The axis between Iran and Hamas is known, but so far Israeli diplomatic activity vis-à-vis Qatar has been reported as an exclusive mediator. Now, the activity to release Israeli hostages held in Gaza does not skip the possibility of working with Iran in an attempt to achieve a prisoner exchange.
The foreign minister said after the meeting, which was attended by five families of abductees from Israel with Belgian Minister Hadja Lavib, that "it is of utmost importance that the world hear directly and directly from the families of the abductees about the unforgivable crimes of Hamas. The abduction of our citizens, including babies, children, women and Holocaust survivors, contravenes all international law and is a crime against humanity. I asked the Belgian foreign minister to use every possible lever to bring about a quick solution and release our citizens who are in the hands of a cruel terrorist organization, worse than ISIS."
The meeting was attended by representatives of the families: Ayala Yahalomi – her brother Ohad and his son (nephew) Eitan, abducted by Hamas from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz to the Gaza Strip; Shai Venkert - Omar, his son, is kidnapped at a party in Reim. Omar suffers from a chronic illness and needs medication; Omri Almog - Omri's sister, Chen Almog-Goldstein together with her three children: Agam (3), Gal (18) and Tal (11) were abducted to Gaza, and her husband Nadav Almog-Goldstein and their daughter Yam were murdered by the terrorists in their home in the village of Gaza; Dvora Idan - Tzachi Idan, Dvora's son, was abducted to Gaza and his daughter Maayan (9) was murdered by terrorists in their home in Nahal Oz on October 18; Yoni Asher - his wife, Doron Katz, was kidnapped, her mother Efrat Katz was murdered and his young daughters Raz (7.4) and Aviv (5.2) were kidnapped with their mother. His brother-in-law Ravid Katz and his mother-in-law's boyfriend are kidnapped in Gaza.
Cohen did not mention that the explicit request sent to the minister – who dealt in the past with the release of hostages in various prisoner exchange deals with Iran – would do the same in the Israeli case. Lahviv's ties with Iran are supposed to help open another route to pressure Hamas to release the hostages, among them, as is known, more than 30 children and youth up to the age of 18. A source in the delegation told Israel Hayom that "the minister promised to do everything in her power to help."
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us