El Al places photos of Israeli hostages on airplane seats

El Al places hostages pictures on seats on an aid flight to Israel.

By Shiryn Ghermezian, The Algemeiner 

Israel’s national airline El Al placed photos of those missing or kidnapped by Hamas terrorists since Oct. 7, including their names and ages, on each seat onboard its cargo flight that left late on Monday to transport humanitarian aid from New York to Israel.

The photos were placed to raise awareness about the missing and abducted hostages, and “as a symbol and hope for their return to Israel,” El Al said.

The Israel-bound flight that left John F. Kennedy Airport, and the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cargo that it carried, was organized by the the Jewish organization Amudim and Phoenix Insurance in partnership with El Al.

Since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas — which started after the Palestinian terrorist group infiltrated the Jewish state on Oct. 7 and murdered over 1,400 people, mostly civilians — El Al has flown more than 3,500 tons of aid from around the world to Israel, the carrier said.

On Oct. 14, the airline broke its more than 40-year policy of not flying on Shabbat — the weekly Jewish day of rest, from Friday night to Saturday night — in order to transport reservists home to Israel from around the world so they can serve in the Israeli military against Hamas.

Other members of Israel’s security forces, as well as medical and rescue teams, were also on the flight, which was free and subsidized by El Al and financial institutions in the US, according to Reuters.

More than 200 hostages were forcibly taken by Hamas terrorists from Israel to the Gaza Strip earlier this month, including children, women, and the elderly. So far, only four are known to have been released.