TEL AVIV — Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, met Friday with survivor Naama Levy and her family, including relatives of other hostages taken by Hamas, amid preparations for the first Passover since the October 7th massacre. The meeting, held at IDF headquarters, featured the presentation of a special Passover Haggadah, symbolizing Jewish resilience in the face of modern captivity and echoing the festival’s themes of liberation and national solidarity.
This gathering occurs nearly six months after the single deadliest attack against Jews since the Holocaust, when Hamas terrorists stormed from Gaza, killed more than 1,200 people—including children and the elderly—and abducted over 240 others. The attack, which marked the start of the “Iron Swords War,” exposed Israel’s vulnerabilities and thrust the country into a multi-front battle against Iranian-backed terrorist entities across the region.
The hostages’ plight remains a searing national trauma. Many, including children and senior citizens, are still held in harsh conditions deep within Gaza’s tunnel complexes. While some captives have been released as part of highly fraught exchanges—requiring Israel to free convicted terrorists—more than 130 remain unaccounted for. Eyewitnesses and intelligence sources confirm that Hamas, operating with Iranian support, has subjected hostages to systematic abuse, including torture and public displays for propaganda. These actions are consistent with a strategy of weaponizing civilian abductees to exert psychological and diplomatic pressure on Israel.
IDF Chief of Staff Halevi, upon receiving the Haggadah, reiterated Israel’s paramount moral mission: the recovery of every last hostage. This vow underpins ongoing IDF operations in Gaza, where forces are engaged in difficult urban and subterranean warfare targeting terrorist infrastructure, command centers, and the vast networks Hamas uses to imprison hostages alongside combatants. Military sources stress that operations are guided by a dual imperative: dismantling the capability of Hamas and the Iranian-backed axis to launch further atrocities, and leaving no Israeli behind on the field of battle or in captivity.
The broader context of the hostage crisis exposes deep-seated challenges for Israel’s leadership and society. Since October, families of the captives have become icons of resilience and activism, staging public vigils, advocating for their loved ones at the highest levels, and serving as a constant reminder of the personal cost of the ongoing war. Their cause has become entwined with Israel’s collective memory and its existential ethos—that the State of Israel will do whatever is necessary to safeguard its citizens and preserve Jewish life.
Passover, commemorating the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, now carries a poignant new meaning inside Israeli homes. Empty places are left at Seder tables; prayers blend ancient calls for deliverance with urgent pleas for the return of the hostages. Community leaders and state officials amplify the message that without their safe return, this quintessential festival of freedom cannot truly be celebrated.
The international dimension remains fraught. While Western nations have condemned the kidnappings and called for immediate, unconditional releases, diplomatic leverage over Hamas and its patron, the Islamic Republic of Iran, remains limited. Negotiations, often mediated by Qatar and Egypt, are complicated by Hamas’s demands for large prisoner releases and Israel’s refusal to equate innocent lives with convicted mass murderers. This asymmetry is a deliberate tactic by Iran and its proxies, seeking to demoralize Israeli society while elevating convicted terrorists as political actors.
Meanwhile, Israeli military operations continue across Gaza and other fronts. The IDF pursues intelligence leads to locate and rescue hostages, even as Hamas attempts to shield operatives and hostages behind human shields in civilian areas. The hostage situation has also influenced Israel’s standing in international forums, where repeated calls for ceasefires are often complicated by the absence of any guarantees for hostage release or terrorist disarmament.
As Passover begins, the memory of October 7 and the ongoing ordeal of the hostages remain ever-present. The meeting between the IDF Chief of Staff and families like the Levys and Bermans highlights the enduring core of Israel’s fight: the unwavering insistence that Jewish lives are not bargaining chips for political gain, and the national promise that Israel will never rest until every citizen is home.
The war with Hamas in Gaza is only one part of Israel’s broader campaign against a network of Iranian-backed forces committed to its destruction, spanning Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. The hostage crisis serves as a painful symbol of what is at stake—not just for Israel, but for the future of civilized order in the region. As the Haggadah tells the story of redemption, so does the modern Israeli story reaffirm the commitment to self-defense, moral clarity, and the unbreakable bond between the nation and its people.
