The Hostages and Missing Families Forum (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: מטה המשפחות להחזרת החטופים והנעדרים) is a body established by the families of the abductees who were kidnapped to Gaza as part of the

2023 Hamas attack on Israel A series of coordinated attacks, led by the Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas, from the Gaza Strip into bordering areas in Israel, commenced on 7 October 2023, a Sabbath day and date of several Jewish holidays. Hamas meticulously pl ...

on 7 October 2023, and by the families of the missing persons as a result of this attack. The forum aims to return the abductees from Gaza, to locate those missing from the attack, and to handle medical, legal and other matters related to the abduction and its consequences. It is a group that represents the hostages and kibbutz community and makes announcements of relevant news such as the deaths confirmed of the hostages.

History

Within days of the

on 7 October 2023, the families of at least 341 missing Israelis, who had either been kidnapped to Gaza or whose disposition was unknown, started a

WhatsApp WhatsApp (also called WhatsApp Messenger) is an internationally available freeware, cross-platform, centralized instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by American company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook). It allows us ...

group to share information and organize. Three initiatives, led by former Israeli politician and communications professional Ronen Tzur, Haim Rubinstein, and Dudi Zalamanovitch united as the Hostages and Missing Families Forum by 13 October. Tzur was the group's director, Rubinstein was the spokesman, and Zalmanovitch donated office space. Tzur headed the Forum until he stepped down in February 2024. The Forum, along with most individual relatives of hostages, have attempted to avoid partisan politics or confrontation with Israel's right-wing coalition government.

Activities

During the first week, the group organized a fundraising drive that raised $500,000 and organized a meeting attended by 500 family members with

Gal Hirsch Gal Hirsch ( he, גל הירש; born 1964) is an Israeli brigadier general (Tat aluf) who commanded the 91st Division of Israel Defense Forces during the 2006 Lebanon War, and since 2020 he is the president oNEWSRAEL Biography Gal Hirsch was b ...

, the Israeli government official coordinating hostage affairs. The group launched the hashtag #BringThemHomeNow. The Forum recruited hundreds of volunteers in Israel and the United States, including psychologists, social media and communications professionals, former hostages, and former government officials such as

David Meidan David Meidan (born 1955) is a former Mossad official, serving as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coordinator on the issue of POWs and MIAs. Served as personal representative of Prime Minister Netanyahu in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange - ...

, who was involved in negotiating the

Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange The Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange (; ), also known as "Wafa al-Ahrar" (''"Faithful to the free"''), followed a 2011 agreement between Israel and Hamas to release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for 1,027 prisoners — almost all Palest ...

. In February 2024, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum filed a war crimes complaint against

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

at the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

. The complaint included charges against Hamas leaders of "kidnapping, crimes of sexual violence, torture and other serious allegations." The Forum was awarded the

Genesis Prize The Genesis Prize ( he, פרס בראשית) is a $1 million annual prize awarded to Jewish people who have achieved significant professional success, in recognition of their accomplishments, contributions to humanity, and commitment to Jewish val ...

, also referred to as the Jewish Nobel Prize, alongside the JAFI Fund for Victims of Terror; Lev Echad; NATAL-The Israel Trauma and Resiliency Center; and OneFamily-Overcoming Terror Together.

References

External links

* Domestic reactions to the Israel–Hamas war Israel–Hamas war hostage crisis Child abduction 2023 establishments in Israel Organizations established in 2023 {{Israel-stub

History

Activities

See also

References

External links