The abducted sisters held a special press conference Wednesday evening calling for the release of the young women in the current round of releases. They pointed the finger at those responsible: "The sole responsibility for their physical and mental health lies with Hamas-ISIS. Women's organizations have failed in their role. They are in real mortal danger, they must be released now."
In the pouring rain: Merav Leshem Gonen, mother of Romi Gonen, abducted in Gaza, in a message to the citizens of Israel as part of the march to Jerusalem
Yarden Gonen, Romi Gonen's sister, who was kidnapped from the festival in Reim: "My sister was kidnapped after she was shot, while watching her best friend murdered. To all the women in the world, we don't have to explain what it means to be a woman, what it means to walk around on the street and feel that your life could be threatened at any given moment. Imagine what it feels like for a kidnapped woman? She doesn't have time. It's in your hands, I and all the women by my side are doing everything they can to bring them back, I demand that you do it too."
"Imagine what it feels like for a kidnapped woman." Yarden Gonen, Romi Gonen's sister, photo: Gideon Markowitz
Sasha Ariev, Karina Ariev's sister: "In my last phone conversation with my sister, she probably already knew what was happening, and told me: 'If I die, go on with your life, take care of our parents, keep living.' Every minute, every second that my sister is there, is a danger to life, a danger to the lives of all of them, to all the girls with her. These girls must return, they will be the voice of the women and all the abductees, and of all those who did not survive this inferno – they will perpetuate and remember."
"They will be the voice of the women and all the abductees, they will commemorate and remember." Sasha Ariev, Karina Ariev's sister, photo: Gideon Markowitz
Shira Goren, Shani Goren's sister, demanded their immediate return: "After the testimonies of the girls who returned from captivity, there is no room for doubt, they have no time, their hourglass is running out. We must bring them all back, and all of them immediately."
Yamit Ashkenazi, Doron Steinbrecher's sister: "On October 7, at <>:<> in the morning, we woke up to an inferno in Kibbutz Kfar Azza. Doron wrote that she was really scared and that she was under the bed blocking the door and hoping that this would save her. She heard the terrorists outside and hoped the alert squad was coming. My family was abandoned on October <> and all our abductees were also abandoned and I will not let anyone abandon my sister again."
"I won't let anyone abandon my sister again." Yamit Ashkenazi, Doron Steinbrecher's sister, photo: Gideon Markowitz
Shani Yerushalmi, Eden Yerushalmi's sister, spoke about the horrors her sister had to endure that Shabbat: "Eden is a girl that everyone loves, always happy, always laughing. That day she called us frightened, hiding in the car for an hour with her best friends bleeding to death next to her. She was afraid to cry, her voice broke, I asked her not to cry so she wouldn't be heard. We started hearing voices in Arabic and decided to record the conversation, she whispered "I'm being caught" and we knew these were the last moments. A young woman who just came to work, and she's been there for more than fifty days and we don't know how she's doing."
"I asked her not to cry so she wouldn't be heard." Shani Yerushalmi, sister of Eden Yerushalmi, photo: Gideon Markowitz
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