Rome – Vatican News, November 14, 2024
After enduring months in captivity in Gaza, a group of Israeli hostages, abducted by Hamas on October 7, 2023, were received by Pope Francis in the Vatican this morning.
Sixteen people—ten women, four men, and two children – attended the meeting.
One of the attendees presented the Pope with a football shirt bearing the name of Tal Shoham, a family member taken hostage alongside his wife, children, mother-in-law, and other relatives.
Some of them were later released as part of a temporary ceasefire deal brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States.
Several participants held signs displaying the faces and names of their missing or captive family members, with inscriptions such as “Bring him home.”
