Then there are the people who demonstrate daily. Many of them devote their full time to this cause.

During these 11 months I came to know dozens of new people, all of them involved some way or another in this social phenomenon. They are like my new family. Most important are the hostage’s family members. I talk to them almost every day. I know their personality, occupation, their families, hobbies, what they like and hate in life. I have their trust. This allows me better proximity to events like seen in picture “Helplessness”.

There are no good stories here. I shot thousands of photos during these 11 months. Not even one of them show someone smiling. There is a lot of sadness, frustration, fear, anger and helplessness. Putting aside the tragedy for a moment, from a photographic point of view it’s a fruitful ground for photos that show these feelings. In the picture “Granddaughter grief” you can see Talia, the granddaughter of Alex Dancyg (76) who was kidnapped on the 7.10 and later murdered in captivity. She joined the demonstrators a few days after his body was brought back in a military operation. That day she headed the march while shouting and crying her heart out. Talia and her two sisters still demonstrating as they feel they cannot rest until all hostages are back.

The Bibas family: Yarden, Shiri, Ariel (5) and baby boy Kfir (1) were Kidnapped on Oct. 7th. Jimmy Miller, cousin of Shiri, (seen in picture “Bring them home now”) organized Kfir’s first year birthday event which was named “the saddest birthday in the world”. Recently he organized the same event for Ariel’s fifth birthday. After the kidnap, Jimmy found Kfir’s picture (seen on the left side) where he says he wants to be Batman and “fly to save people stuck in a deep pit”. If Kfir is still alive, he is held today in a deep tunnel.

The mother of Amit Soussana, who was also kidnapped on October 7, holds her daughter’s picture at public events to raise international awareness about her story. Amit was later released and shared her experience. In an interview with The New York Times, Amit revealed that she was sexually assaulted and beaten by one of her captors. She chose to go public with her traumatic story to shed light on the plight of the hostages still held in Gaza and to advocate for their return.

Fighting to close a deal and release all hostages

The footage of Noa Argamani who was abducted from the Nova music festival became a symbol of the hostage crisis and led to Argamani being described as "the face of the Nova music festival hostages”. She was released in a military operation on June 8th after 8 months in captivity. Noa was the only daughter of Liora, who was suffering from late-stage brain cancer and made a public plea to see her daughter one last time. Although her physical situation deteriorated dramatically, she appeared in many demonstrations and public events for the return of the hostages. I took the picture “Still waiting” on the 14.5, two weeks before Noa was released. Liora looks like she is waiting for someone to sit next to her. The sign on the chair says “saved” and remained empty that evening. Liora passed away 6 weeks after.

No words

I’ve also gotten to personally know the policemen assigned to these events. Even if a demonstration turns a bit violent, they let me take pictures close to them, as seen in the picture “The chief of police”.