Israeli President: Our Wounds Will Not Heal Until All Hostages Return

Israeli President Isaac Herzog and the hostages' families called for release. (Wikimedia Commons/Government Press Office/Kobi Gideon)

JAKARTA - President Isaac Herzog said Israel could only recover from the events of October 7 after the hostages kidnapped that day were released from detention, after he laid a wreath at a memorial service for terror victims on Mount Herzl on Monday.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack on the southern region of Israel on October 7 2023. Israeli estimates say that as a result of the attack, around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 others were taken hostage by the militant group.

"This recovery, which is important for all of us, as a nation and a state, is not only about looking to the future and our development, but also about improving the present," he said, quoted from The Times of Israel, May 14.

"And our gift will not be whole, our wounds will not heal, until all the hostages return, our beloved brothers and sisters, who are in distress and captive," President Herzog continued.

He further described the events of October 7 as "the most heinous terrorist attack" in the history of the State of Israel, in which "entire families were cruelly taken from us."

"The attack on October 7 was an attack on our rights and sovereignty in our homeland, in our only country, Israel," he said.

Speaking to the victims' families, President Herzog said "no one can truly understand the enormity of the void that opens in your life."

"Our role, the role of all Israelis, is to support you," said President Herzog.

"This of course also applies to the deep moral obligations towards survivors of acts of hostility and terror, as well as to all people affected physically and mentally, who need support, assistance, assistance, resources, knowledge and attention from all parties to try recover and live again," he explained.

A day earlier President Herzog said the Jewish people have always dreamed of peace, but as long as peace is under attack, "we will not lay down our swords" during a Remembrance Day ceremony at the Western Wall, Jerusalem.

President Herzog recalled the sacrifices made by hundreds of fallen soldiers buried across the country since the October 7 attacks and the war in Gaza.

"Citizens of Israel, at this sacred moment, I remind us and the entire world: we never wanted or chose this terrible war. Not this one or its predecessors," said President Herzog.

"All we want is to return to Zion. We have always dreamed of peace and good neighborly relations with all peoples and countries in this region, and nothing less forever. But as long as the enemy tries to destroy us, we will not lay down our swords," he said.