Shoval Abend Plotzki is actually studying medicine in Italy. For three weeks, however, the 27-year-old Israeli’s world has been completely turned upside down. He travels through Europe with other relatives of those abducted or murdered, speaks to politicians, MPs and journalists. He repeatedly reports on the horrific attack by Hamas terrorists on Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7th. He told DW that he saw unimaginable things in the days after the attack when he visited the burned-down kibbutz. Dead babies, charred, mutilated corpses, destruction, endless suffering. He tells the story in a calm, occasionally faltering voice.
Infinite uncertainty
His aunt Raz and uncle Ohad survived the attack, but they were taken to the Gaza Strip. Hamas is a militant Islamist organization and was elected the strongest force in the Palestinian parliament in 2006. She has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007 without any further democratic mandates. Many states, especially Western ones, classify Hamas as a terrorist organization.
“Bring them home now” – relatives demand the release of the hostagesImage: Bernd Riegert/DW
On the morning of October 7th, a photo of Shoval Abend Plotzki’s 54-year-old uncle appeared in a Telegram channel showing him in the grip of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. A few days later, a video found on the bodycam of a killed Hamas member showed that his 57-year-old aunt was also kidnapped and abused. In the recording, his aunt, barefoot and half-naked, is seen stumbling along a street, barefoot and half-naked, as Shoval Abend Plotzki tells it, driven by armed men.
“We have no information about how you are doing,” says the nephew on day 20 after the brutal kidnapping. “Whether they’re alive or dead? We don’t know. We just don’t know.” Together with families and friends of the more than 220 hostages, Shoval Abend Plotzki organized a forum that called for the release of those abducted under the hashtag “Bring them home now.” The European Union should help, says Shoval Abend Plotzki, because after all, dozens of hostages have dual citizenship. Around 60 hostages are German citizens. Raz and Ohad Ben-Ami also have German passports in addition to their Israeli ones. To appeal for help for his aunt and uncle, Shoval Abend Plotzki came to Brussels on the day of the EU summit at the invitation of the European Jewish Association.
It is difficult for many relatives to speak publicly about the fate of their familiesImage: Bernd Riegert/DW
“Every life counts”
“Everyone in a position of power, but also every mother and father, should ask themselves: ‘What if this was my child, my brother, my sister?'” States and politicians must come together to protect Israel help, says Shoval Abend Plotzki. “I think every life counts, no matter what you did before. The Israelis who died and the civilians in Gaza are all innocent. You have to separate the people from the terrorist organization. You have to understand the complexity of this conflict is probably the most difficult in the entire region.”
“The hostages also need humanitarian help”
Specifically, Shoval Abend Plotzki calls for humanitarian aid not only to be provided to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, but also to the hostages. The Red Cross or other aid organizations, most of which are financed by the EU, should bring his aunt the medication she so urgently needs. Raz Ben-Ami has a severe autoimmune disease and requires 16 medications. “Bring her her medicine. If she doesn’t get it, she’ll soon be gone. She’ll die.”
Demonstration in Berlin: 60 hostages have a German passportImage: Bernd Elmenthaler/IMAGO
On Friday evening, Shoval Plotzki will fly from Brussels back to Israel. Keep hoping and waiting. “Raz is an artist, a really peaceful person. She was involved in the peace movement and for human rights. Ohad is an accountant in the kibbutz. The two of them have never done violence to anyone. Never,” says the young man from Israel. They are completely innocent.
It is all the more incomprehensible that the Hamas terrorists came to their kibbutz to slaughter or kidnap people indiscriminately. “The majority of people in Israel cannot bear the images from the Gaza Strip. There should be another way to beat the terrorists and separate them from their helpers without killing the other people.” At home in Israel, Shoval Evening Plotzki will meet the abductees’ three adult daughters, his cousins. “They don’t know how their parents are doing. They don’t know if they’ll ever see them again.”