Dozens of packages of medicines designated for hostages discovered in Gaza by IDF

The medicines were delivered through individual initiatives by family members of hostages and it isn’t known whether the medications actually reached the hostages.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Dozens of packages of medicine bearing the names of hostages were discovered by the IDF during their raid on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

The medicines were delivered through individual initiatives by family members of hostages and it isn’t known whether the medications actually reached them.

The initiative, which didn’t involve the Israeli government, began in November with the hostage families listing names of recipients and the type of medications they needed.

They worked with hostage mediator David Meidan along with international organizations to ship medicines from European countries, according to a report by Channel 12 News.

The medicines arrived to Egypt and were sent to Gaza through the Rafah crossing, but may not have reached the hostages.

Many of the remaining hostages are elderly men who require medicine daily.

The project began through the efforts of Rotem Cooper, son of captives Nurit and Amiram Cooper as well as Efrat Machikawa whose uncle and aunt Margalit and Gadi Mozes were also abducted.  Margalit Mozes and Nurit Cooper were subsequently released.

Also participating was Dan Sobovitz,  a board member of the Jewish Secular Community Center David Susskind (CCLJ) in Brussels, who has led the European campaign to raise awareness of the plight of hostages.

However, these efforts weren’t assisted by the Red Cross, who since October 7th has not provided any information on the condition of the hostages nor have they visited them.

The French Foreign Ministry played a significant role in having medications delivered to Gaza in January in return for more supplies for Gazan civilians and tried to put pressure on Qatar, which often represents Hamas in negotiations, to confirm the delivery of the medications.

There was a short video with no audio showing the medications apparently inside a tunnel with no further information.

Families of hostages protested on Saturday night outside of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s residence, advocating for new elections and calling on the government to “think outside of the box” to secure the release of Israeli captives.

Netanyahu announced in a press conference on Saturday night that he was fully committed to releasing the hostages through “military pressure and strong negotiations” and rejected the “delusional” demands made by Hamas that would keep Israel from achieving its military goals.

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