By Cecile Mantovani
GENEVA (Reuters) – Demonstrators set up more than 200 empty chairs and strollers outside the United Nations in Geneva on Thursday to draw attention to the plight of Israeli hostages abducted by Hamas and to call for their release.
Israel says more than 1,400 people were killed and more than 220 hostage taken after Hamas gunmen carried out surprise attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7.
“We have 222 empty chairs which correspond to the 222 hostages who have been abducted from their beds, from their houses by Hamas,” said Geneva resident Michel Dreyfus, who helped organise the event.
“They are families, babies, three-month-old babies, 80-year old grandmothers, entire families who have been kidnapped and who have now disappeared in Gaza at the hands of Hamas.”
Dreyfus said the demonstration was intended to urge the United Nations and Red Cross to “do what needs to be done so they can come home”.
Israel, which on Thursday put the number of people confirmed held hostage in Gaza since the raids by Hamas at 224, has responded to the rampage and abductions with unrelenting air strikes on the densely-populated enclave that have killed thousands of Palestinians.
Relatives of Israeli hostages were in Geneva last week to meet with officials, including at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), to urge for their release.
Ibrahim Khraishi, Palestinian ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva said: “I’m in favour of releasing all civilians, all prisoners, from both sides. We want them to be released soon.”
(Reporting by Cécile Mantovani; Writing by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
