Hundreds gathered Tuesday evening at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv for a Passover event featuring public conversations with Hamas captivity survivors.
The evening featured a conversation with captivity survivors Moran Stella Yanai and Noga Weiss. A similar meeting was held Monday with captivity survivor Meirav Tal, and on Wednesday another session will feature testimony from captivity survivor Ilana Gritzewsky.
Captivity survivor Moran Stela Yanai recalled: "Many terrible things happened to me in captivity, like severe food poisoning that I almost didn't survive, and a gun to my head. Three times they deceived me, saying I was being released to go home, but then dragged me back to another house in Gaza."
"We are here because we have no choice but to continue speaking out - this is what I've been doing for the past year and a half, and this is what I will do until the last hostage returns.
"The hostages must be everyone's top priority. I know today that I must cherish every day. Unfortunately, just one day in captivity is enough to understand that no person should ever experience this."
Captivity survivor Noga Weiss shared: "On the 14th day of captivity, we were sitting down for breakfast when a terrorist entered with a woman beside him. I looked at them and it took me a few moments to understand, and then it hit me that it was my mother. Until that moment, I didn't know what had happened to her. Suddenly seeing someone familiar from home restored my faith."
"I am here to say that nothing is more urgent than bringing back all the hostages. This has gone on for too long. Each day there feels like two years; there isn't a single second without fear. We can't postpone this any longer. One deal for everyone - the deceased for burial and the living for rehabilitation."