after having “tried everything”, hostage families participate in blocking humanitarian convoys to Gaza

“No help for murderers!” Massed against the barriers of the Kerem Shalom checkpoint in southern Israel, more than 200 demonstrators are demanding an end to deliveries of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, whom they accuse of being “all affiliated with Hamas”. Behind the immense concrete wall, under escort of Israeli border guards, a brick-red truck loaded with white plastic bags cautiously takes the bend, to the jeers of the crowd.

Several times, groups try to force the police cordon in order to prevent the semi-trailer from traveling the few dozen meters that separate it from the Palestinian enclave. Somehow, the police managed to repel them. On the eighth consecutive day of mobilization, Wednesday January 31, these Israeli activists met again at dawn, with the aim of blocking as many trucks as possible.

To thwart the numerous police roadblocks, the demonstrators took country roads and rutted tracks across fields on foot or by car. “At the beginning, we managed to completely prevent passage,” explains Rachel, a young activist from the Tsav-9 movement (“Order No. 9” in French, referring to an emergency code of the Israeli army), which coordinates these actions. “But the police now expect to see us, it becomes more difficult, she explains. This morning, we still forced several trucks to turn around.”

Launched around ten days earlier, the Tsav-9 organization claims to be part of civil society and rejects the far-right label that certain media have attached to it. “Citizens from all over the country have joined us, it’s a very broad movement”assures Rachel, interrupted by screams. “Shame! Shame!”, shout the demonstrators, while a second heavy goods vehicle passes in front of them towards Gaza.

“At this rate, 136 coffins will return to us”

In the crowd, residents of Tel Aviv, reservists, settlers from the West Bank and religious Zionists are present in large numbers. Some are armed, as is permitted in certain areas in Israel. In recent days, they have also been joined by families of the missing, presumed hostages of Hamas for almost four months.

Standing in the middle of the demonstrators, Yaelle, 32, clings to her sign. Among the five hostage faces on it, she points to that of her uncle, Lior Rodaif, 61, kidnapped on the morning of October 7 in the village of Nir Yitzhak. “He suffers from heart problems, but no one among the authorities is worried about it, says the one who is participating for the first time in this type of action. I would like him to receive medical help, not the Hamas terrorists.”

Like the other demonstrators present that morning, she believes that the aid that has been passing through Kerem Shalom for a month and a half benefits the Islamist organization rather than the civilian population. When asked about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave, which the UN now describes as a territory “uninhabitable”she prefers to evoke the atrocities committed on October 7, which cost the lives of 1,140 people. “Above all, I think that there is no civilian [à Gaza] who is not involved in these attacks“she decides.

Around the border post, tension increased a notch at midday. A handful of young demonstrators tear down metal barriers, which they then try to hide behind embankments. In response, the police, some mounted on horses, rushed towards them. “The authorities are tightening controls and will prevent us from blocking trucksshe fumes. At this rate, it’s not 136 hostages but 136 coffins that will return to us.”

Pressure on law enforcement

Faced with increasingly numerous demonstrators, the border guards are strengthening their system. “The soldiers with us!”, “Break orders!”, shout at them from women who have come with their children. Earlier in the morning, an officer called for calm, saying he “understood” the demands, but that he had “Instructions to follow”. Not enough for the activists, who continue to question the uniformed agents in front of them.

“What will you tell your children in ten years?”, asks a young reservist to a police officer barely older than him. He repeats his question to a more senior officer, who mutters an inaudible response before heading back towards the checkpoint. “Look how he’s going!”mocks the demonstrator in his twenties.

Around 1 p.m., a new series of trucks crossed the border in dribs and drabs. An bronca is raised among the activists. “If we are doing all this, it is because UNRWA is complicit with Hamas”, said Nimor, a 59-year-old protester from Tel Aviv. For several days, this United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees has been in the sights of several countries, after accusations made by Israel. Even though investigations are underway, and employees have been dismissed without delay, “the damage is done” according to the protesters.

“We do not trust either UNRWA or humanitarian aid”, denounces Joshua, a thirty-year-old who drove more than two hours to come and take part in this blockade. Like many demonstrators, he accuses Hamas of recovering the fuel provided by the convoys “to build new tunnels and launch missiles” on Israel.

While the Gaza Strip remains shelled by the Israeli army, and a ground operation has been underway since the end of October, rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave has sharply decreased. But the launch of around ten devices on Monday in central Israel reignited tensions. “We cannot provide aid to our enemy, we give them too much”, Judge Joshua, despite the fact that the UN considers that the deliveries are largely insufficient. “It’s sad for the civilians, but that’s not how you win a war.”

“This is the last resort to free my son”

A little aside, Yevgeniya Kozlova looks at the crowd without letting go of her sign. Mother of hostage Andrey Kozlov, 27, she traveled from Saint Petersburg (Russia) to obtain the release of her son, kidnapped at the Supernova music festival in Reim, where he worked as a security guard.

If other hostage families invaded the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, set up tents in front of the private residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, or went as far as Qatar to try to negotiate directly with Hamas officials, Yevgeniya Kozlova turned to blocking.

“I tried everything, I spent a lot of time in the hostage square in Tel Aviv, but our influence is limited, she confides. For my part, I have not had any sign of life from Andrey since October 20. Blockages are a fair struggle, vsThis is the last resort to free my son.”

After a first stay in Israel in October, the mother had to return to Russia to take care of her other son. She now plans to stay much longer, “until Andrey’s release” she announces. “My first request is that my son receives treatment, and of course that he be released with the others”. Once the hostages are freed, she could “surely accept” the delivery of aid to Gazans.

At the end of this eighth day of blockade, around a hundred trucks were able to cross the Kerem Shalom checkpoint towards the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli media. On its WhatsApp channel, the Tsav-9 movement, however, welcomed the “dedication” demonstrators, and calls for these actions to continue. With the hope of influencing the decisions of the Israeli government, more than ever under fire from criticism.

The comments quoted in this article were translated by Yaelle Krief.