40 Children Being Held Hostage

On World Children’s Day, Monday 20th November, Israel tweeted a collage of pictures of the 40 Israeli children who were taken hostage by Hamas on 7th October. They have now been held captive for more than six weeks. Yet the international media seems to say so little about these crimes against humanity carried out by Hamas.

The youngest of these children is Kfir Bibas, who was nine months old when taken into captivity in Gaza with his parents and a sibling. However, there should be another one, even younger, because an Israeli woman who was taken captive was nine months pregnant.

The statement on Israel’s official X account says:

“They should be with their families. Not in a dark room somewhere in Gaza,”

Israel’s education sector is taking various actions to coincide with World Children’s Day and remind the world of these child hostages. One action is to replace school bells in high and middle schools with a song titled “Coming Home” performed by Shir Ya’akov and singer-songwriter Keren Peles.

Schools and colleges have also facilitated discussions with students today as well as preparing outreach activities to raise awareness of these abducted children among the international community.

Israel’s Education Ministry said:

“These moves are intended to instil a spirit of hope in the students and to give them the opportunity to be actively involved in a meaningful way in the national efforts to return the kidnapped students to their homes and to their families.”