Organisers of the weekly rallies to raise awareness of the 239 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have taken the decision to cancel the event this coming Sunday "out of respect for Remembrance Sunday".
A spokesperson told the JC: "Out of respect for Remembrance Sunday, 7/10 Human Chain, a grassroots activist group, has taken the decision not to hold any form of rally, demonstration, vigil or march to raise awareness of the plight of the Israeli civilian hostages this weekend."
The group has been holding events every Sunday since the atrocities of October 7 were perpetrated by Hamas terrorists.
In the last month they have arranged several events, including a demonstration outside the Qatari Embassy, a rally in Trafalgar Square attended by 15,000 people and a human chain of solidarity in Parliament Square with thousands of participants.
On Thursday, they demonstrated outside the International Committee of the Red Cross headquarters in London, alongside hundreds of medical staff, calling for them to visit the hostages.
In a statement, the group of medics said: “We, a group of medical, nursing, mental health and allied healthcare professionals in the UK, are appealing to the Red Cross to help facilitate immediate medical and wellbeing visits to the 239 hostages kidnapped from Israel on Saturday 7 October 2023. The hostages include babies, toddlers and children. As many as 37 are aged 18 and under."
Hostage rally outside Red Cross London headquarters
Demonstrators held up posters of hostages outside the rally outside the ICRC London headquarters
They pointed out that among the hostages were people with disabilites, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's and chronic kidney failure.
They added that others were "likely to be dealing with the trauma of having witnessed brutal attacks against family members, some of whom will not have survived the situation on October 7.
"We have grave concerns about both the physical and mental wellbeing of these hostages, and urgently request that the Red Cross visit the hostages to assess their medical condition."
Speeches were made by health care professionals, including London-based surgeon, Dr Elliot Sorene. His son, a British citizen, survived the Re’im Nova Music Festival massacre on 7 October 2023.
Dr. Elliot Sorene said, "As medical and healthcare professionals, we will not rest, nor will we be silent until the ICRC fulfils its professional and moral duty to visit the hostages in the Gaza strip and to allow them to receive essential and lifesaving medical treatment.
Dr Elliot Sorene holding a poster of hostage Hersh Goldberg Polin
Dr Elliot Sorene holding a poster of hostage Hersh Goldberg Polin
"The ICRC is present as a neutral and apolitical organisation. Yet the statement that the ICRC is ‘doing everything in its ability’ is not borne out by the fact that the hostages have received no humanitarian visits from the ICRC. In my mind, this raises serious questions that need to be addressed urgently.”
A statement from the ICRC marking a month since the October 7 terrorist attacks and abductions said: "The plight of people being held hostage and their loved ones is a top priority. The ICRC continues to pursue every possible avenue to secure the release of all remaining hostages, calling for urgent, immediate access to all those detained and for all sides to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law."
The group 7/10 Human Chain works with the Jewish community in the UK as well as other supporters of Israel to keep the hostages at the top of the international agenda.
