The children of Israelis being held hostage in Gaza made an emotional appeal for their immediate release on Thursday.
Friends Noam Sagi and Sharon Lifschitz’s parents were abducted when Hamas fighters stormed the Nir Oz kibbutz near the Gaza border.
In total, around 80 people from the community were abducted.
The pair, who are dual British and Israeli nationals, had not been contacted or offered assistance by either Israeli or British authorities since the kidnapping, Mr Sagi said at a press conference in London. "We have no information, we are working together in the dark," he said.
“The only hope I have now is almost like for humanity to do something for me to see my mother again and for my son to see his grandmother again."
Ms Lifschitz told how her parents, whom she is not naming out of fear for their safety, have fought for peace in the region all their lives.
The artist and academic, who also grew up on the kibbutz, said: “My mum was taken out, she was kind of disconnected from her oxygen in order to be loaded onto a motorbike or whatever it is, I don’t know.
“My father spent his life fighting for peace. I am his daughter. We are all his children.
“When we ask for peace, we ask to see the human within each of us.”
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday used a meeting with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim, to call on Hamas to release hostages taken during its offensive.
A spokesman for Mr Scholz said the fate of the prisoners, who include several German citizens, was a focal point of the talks in Berlin. Mr Scholz “underlined that Hamas has full responsibility for the welfare of the hostages” and “demanded that the hostages be released as quickly as possible”.
Families of French citizens who were kidnapped by Hamas and brought to Gaza on Thursday asked for help from French President Emmanuel Macron.
“Macron, you have the power to bring back the disappeared. I want my sister back and I want her now,” Meitav Journo said at a press conference in Tel Aviv. She believes that her sister Karen was kidnapped on Saturday at a music festival in the desert near the Gaza-Israel border.
Ms Journo said she saw a three-second video of her sister, who had a broken foot, and two other girls being driven in a private ambulance. “Nobody is talking to us from the Israeli government or the IDF [Israeli army],” said Ms Journo.
Sitting next to her, Batsheva Yaalomi said that she wanted Mr Macron to provide her with information on her missing relatives. They include her husband and 12-year-old son. “My heart is broken,” said Ms Yaalomi, who managed to flee her kidnappers with two of her children, including an eight-month-old baby. “I don’t know where my son is. I wish that no mother in the world experiences this kind of nightmare.”
At the London press conference, surrounded by posters of the missing Israelis and the slogan "Bring them home", Mr Sagi said he should have been picking his mother up from London's Heathrow Airport on Thursday. She was due to visit him in the British capital to celebrate her 75th birthday.
"I shouldn't be sitting here," the 53-year-old psychotherapist, who grew up on the kibbutz and now lives in London.
“What keeps me going is I will do everything I can for them.”
He said Hamas militants targeted young children and the elderly.
“People who survived the holocaust found themselves facing another one," he added.
Mr Sagi said both he and Ms Lifschitz’s parents are “peace loving people who fought all their lives for coexistence and for good neighbouring relationships”.
Israel-Gaza war latest - in pictures
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At UN headquarters in New York City, Rachel Zeitchik, right, and Jay Zeitchik attend an event for families of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas. AFP -
Palestinians flee from northern Gaza towards the south after the Israeli army demanded the population of more than a million people leave before a ground invasion. AP -
Demonstrators at a rally in support of Palestine face a counter-demonstration in support of Israel near Times Square in New York. EPA -
Palestinians flee from northern Gaza to the south after the Israeli army issued an evacuation warning. AP -
An injured man is rescued from the rubble of a building following an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza Strip. AP -
Mourners take cover as sirens sound during the funeral of Tom Godo, killed during the attack by Hamas militants on the Kibbutz Kisuffim last week, in Kibbutz Naan near Tel Aviv. AFP -
A Palestinian man flashes the victory sign as he and others leave northern Gaza before an expected Israeli ground offensive. AFP -
Palestinians head south with their belongings after being ordered by Israel to leave northern Gaza on Friday. AFP -
Israel ordered more than a million Palestinians to head south within 24 hours. Reuters -
The UN criticised the directive, saying forcing such a large number of people to flee en masse would be catastrophic. Reuters -
Gazans have to travel about 15km if they live in the northernmost part of the strip to reach the area south of the Wadi Gaza. Reuters -
The UN said that more than 423,000 people have already fled their homes in the territory, with a sizeable number making the more than 10km journey on foot. Reuters -
Palestinians with their belongings flee to safer areas in Gaza City. AFP -
An Armoured Personnel Carrier drives near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. Reuters -
Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr gather for mass Friday prayer during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in Baghdad, Iraq. Reuters -
A Palestinian woman waits to cross into Jerusalem's Old City through Damascus Gate next to Israeli soldiers. AFP -
Israeli army infantry fighting vehicles deploy along the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel. AFP -
Israeli soldiers detain a man while on patrol near Kibbutz Beeri, near the Gaza Strip. AFP -
Students hold in a rally in support of Palestine at Columbia University in New York. Getty Images -
Family and friends mourn Valentin Ghnassia, 23, who was killed in a battle with Palestinian militants at Kibbutz Beeri near the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip. Getty Images -
A ball of fire erupts in Gaza city after an Israeli air strike. AFP -
Palestinians inspect the rubble of buildings hit by an Israeli air strike at Al Shati refugee camp. AP -
A fireball erupts from an Israeli air strike in Gaza city. AFP -
People waiting for news of victims outside the morgue at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. AFP -
A girl mourns the death of members of the Samour family, who were killed in Israeli strikes on their house in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters -
Israelis arrive to sign up at a weapons distribution point for people allowed to carry arms, at the Ayyelet HaShahar Kibbutz in northern Israel, near the Lebanese border. AFP -
Mourners outside the morgue at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City as battles between Israel and the Hamas movement continue for a sixth consecutive day. AFP -
Men dig graves to bury members of the Samour family, who were killed in Israeli strikes on their house in Khan Younis. Reuters -
Palestinian children who fled their homes during Israeli strikes, play at a United Nations-run school in Gaza City. Reuters -
Israeli soldiers near a self-propelled howitzer near the border with Gaza in southern Israel. AFP -
Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, left, welcomes US Secretary of State Antony Blinken upon arrival at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport. AFP -
Palestinian children in a makeshift shelter at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Reuters -
Boxes of humanitarian aid and supplies from Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation destined for Gaza, in Amman, Jordan. Reuters -
Palestinians outside Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on the sixth day of fighting between Israel and Hamas. AFP -
A pro-Israel vigil in Montevideo, Uruguay. EPA
“If they will die for peace they will take it. If they will die for war that will be another travesty.”
His mother, Ada Sagi, the daughter of Holocaust survivors from Poland, was born in Israel in 1948. She suffers from severe allergies and recently had a hip replacement.
As a member of a kibbutz built on the ideals of equality and humanity, she learned Arabic and taught the language to others in southern Israel as a way to improve communication and build a better relationship with Palestinians living nearby.
"These people were marginalised in Israel for their beliefs. All their lives they fought for a better future for us," said Mr Sagi.
Ms Lifschitz recalled how her father had spent his retirement driving Gazans to hospital once a week, and how he'd brought a case to the Israeli high court in the 1980s, to help Arab Bedouins reclaim their land.
"We are two communities that live together," she said.
The pair recalled their childhood on the kibbutz, where children spent their time in each other's homes, and nobody locked their doors. "We never imagined that this was going to be how we reunite," he said.
It would be impossible for the remaining families of the Nir Oz kibbutz to return there, she said, due to the trauma that took place there.
“We now have to fight for those we can still save. The place is gone. The dead are dead. And somewhere in Gaza there are [kidnapped] children and mothers and this is our fight now.”
"We need people to get this sorted. We need these people to come back home," she added.
Israeli and Palestinian demonstrations across Europe - in pictures
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People take part in a March For Palestine in London. AFP -
A demonstrator during a pro-Palestinian rally at the Puerta del Sol square in Madrid. AP -
Protestors wave Palestinian flags as they climb on the Monument a la Republique during a demonstration in Paris. AFP -
Protestors hold Palestinian flags and red flares during a demonstration at Place de la Republique in Paris. Reuters -
Protestors stand in clouds of tear gas as French police try to disperse demonstrations at the Place de la Republique, in Paris. AFP -
Palestinian supporters light flares at a demonstration in London. AP -
Protesters rally in support of Palestinians, in Turin, north-western Italy. AFP -
A pro-Palestinian demonstrator makes her point in Berlin. AFP -
Supporters wave flags at a pro-Palestinian protest in Barcelona, Spain. Reuters -
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators climb the statue of Eros in Piccadilly Circus, London. Getty Images -
A protester waves a Palestinian flag during a rally in Lyon, France. AFP -
Demonstrators carry Palestinian flags in Munich, Germany. Getty Images -
Palestinian flags are paraded in Barcelona, Spain. AP -
Members of the Jewish community attend a rally in Trafalgar Square in London. PA -
A woman waves a flag during a demonstration in Barcelona. AFP -
A demonstrator waves an Israeli flag during a rally in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. AFP -
Marchers at a solidarity rally for Israel hold up flags in Nuremberg. AP -
Demonstrators carrying Israeli flags gather in Lyon, France. AP -
Pro-Israel demonstrators gather near Downing Street, in London. Reuters -
People attend a rally in support of Israel, in Rome. AP -
Supporters of Israel outside the Israeli embassy in the Spanish capital, Madrid. Reuters -
People light candles for Israel in London. AP -
A demonstrator shows his solidarity with Israel in the Swedish capital, Stockholm. AFP
