WE REACHED 10.5 MILLION PEOPLE WITH OUR CALL FOR THE RELEASE OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN HELD HOSTAGE BY HAMAS. ADD YOUR VOICE TO THE ORIGNAL VOICES FOR HOSTAGES LETTER BELOW.

WOMEN, CHILDREN, AND FAMILIES HELD HOSTAGE BY HAMAS NEED URGENT, CRITICAL CARE N0W.

#VoicesForHostages

Hundreds of kidnapped civilians are being held hostage by Hamas in unfathomable circumstances. Global women leaders raise their voices urging humanitarian aid and the safe and swift return of all hostages to their loved ones.

A HEARTFELT PLEA FROM GLOBAL WOMEN LEADERS

We call for international pressure for:

  1. The immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas.

  2. Humanitarian aid and medical care to be provided until the hostages are released.

  3. The enforcement of international humanitarian law.

We are women leaders, activists, and experts. We are feminists. We are mothers, grandmothers and sisters. We have dedicated our professional and personal lives to advocate for human rights. We call for the immediate release of all women and children being held hostage by Hamas. Their continued captivity is a standing violation of international humanitarian law and demands an international response. 

We urge all governments, international organizations, and civil society groups to condemn these crimes and take action to help secure the release of hostages. We urge the International Committee of the Red Cross, UNICEF, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and others, to do everything within their power to get much-needed aid to hostages.

International humanitarian law requires that Hamas immediately provide all necessary means to identify those being held hostage, to allow for medical treatment, not to engage in their torture and ill-treatment, and to respect the dignity of remains by not desecrating bodies and returning them for burial. We demand that these norms be respected, and stress that all parties to armed conflict must comply with international law.

Innocent individuals ought not be used as bargaining chips for any cause or purpose. The infants, children, mothers and elderly taken from their homes must be safely returned to their loved ones.

SIGNED,

DEBRA MESSING Mom, Artist, Activist, Humanitarian. Founding member of @iamavoter | HELEN MIRREN Actor | AMY SCHUMER Comedian, Artist, Activist | GAL GADOT Actress, Producer | MANDY MOORE Actress, Singer, Activist | MONTANA TUCKER Singer, dancer, social media activist | BRANDI CARLILE Musician | REGINA SPEKTOR Singer-songwriter | SHEILA KATZ CEO, National Council of Jewish Women (a UN NGO) | STACY SCHUSTERMAN Businesswoman and philanthropist | MANDANA DAYANI Creator & Co-founder @iamavoter, Speaker, Advisor, Investor | JESSICA SIBLEY CEO of TIME | SHERYL SANDBERG Founder, Lean In | NOA TISHBY Combating Antisemitism and Delegitimization of Israel; Author of “Israel A Simple Guide” | JUDGE DORIT BEINISCH Former President of the Israeli Supreme Court | MARIELUISE BECK Former chair, German Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee | SABINE LEUTHEUSSER-SCHNARRENBERGER German Justice Minister | MS. ZEHAVA GALON Former MK, Human Rights Activist | PROFESSOR RUTH HALPERIN-KADDARI Former Vice-President of the UN Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) | JODY GERSON CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group | MICHELLE JUBELIRER Chair & CEO Capitol Music Group | LORRAINE SCHWARTZ Jewelry designer and businesswoman  | STACEY BENDET EISNER Founder and Creative Director, Alice + Olivia | ALLISON AZOFF Blended Strategy Group | DANIELLE AMES SPIVAK Jewish community leader and philanthropist | BLAIR KOHAN Board member and partner, United Talent Agency | CONGRESSWOMAN JAN SCHAKOWSKY US House of Representatives | SENATOR JACKY ROSEN US Senate | KENSINGTON TALLMAN Actress | EMMANUELLE CHRIQUI Actress | NAZANIN BONIADI Actress and activist | ANTJE SCHIPPMAN Axel Springer Freedom Foundation | ALYSSA ROSENHECK Author of The New Southern Style, Photographer and Speaker | along with THOUSANDS MORE WOMEN who demand international aid to to secure the release of the Israeli hostages.

ADD YOUR VOICE.

Sign the letter to add your name on the Global Women Leaders’ Letter condemning Hamas’s brutal attack, demanding all hostages receive the humanitarian aid that International Law requires, and imploring the release of all hostages.

Do you represent a celebrity or influencer who would like to be involved? Please reach out to: comms@ncjw.org

Hear their voices.

  • Yaffa Adar, 85, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz. A video later surfaced showing her wrapped in a pink-flowered blanket and being driven in a golf cart in Gaza. Yaffa is without the medicine she needs for her blood pressure and chronic pain. She loves reading, writing and keeping connected. Even at 85, she often sends her family messages and GIFs on WhatsApp and is active on Facebook.

  • Noa Argamani, 26, a student at Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba, was abducted from the Nova Music Festival along with her partner, Avinatan Or. Avinatan is an Electrical Engineering student at Ben-Gurion University. Argamani’s friends describe her as “a great friend with a big heart.” In a viral video, Argami and Or are seen being taken by several men, with Or seen walking with his hands apprehended behind his back. Avinathan’s brother, Moshe Or, said “My brother, who is a big guy, two meters tall, trains four times a week, a really strong guy. They held him maybe four or five people and just led them towards the strip, I guess.”

  • A brief video making the rounds on social media shows kindergarten teacher Shiri Silberman-Bibas clutching her redheaded sons–Ariel, 4, and 9-month-old Kfir–as the family is abducted by Hamas from their kibbutz, Nir Oz, in southern Israel.

  • Alex Dancyg, 75, a Holocaust historian who has written books on Poland’s Jewish community and the systematic murder of Jews during the Second World War, was taken from the Nir Oz kibbutz. “All the guides in Poland, in Jewish sites and in Nazi camps, only use his books,” said a tour guide at Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.

  • After beating cancer, Karina, 51, her partner, and their two daughters were abducted to Gaza from Kibbutz Nir Oz. Her sister recounts: "When more and more reports began coming in, I called her, and she answered and said, 'Paula, they’re here,' and then the call was cut off.

  • Iván Illarramendi, 46, a Spanish citizen born in Zarautz, in the Basque Country, was taken from the Kissufim Kibbutz with his wife, Loren Garcovich, who is reported to be a 47-year-old Chilean citizen with Israeli roots. “What gives me hope is that they’ve been kidnapped and haven’t been listed as being killed in the attacks,” Garcovich’s father, Danny, told Chilean TV. “As long as things stay that way, we’re hopeful that we’ll be able to get them back.”

  • Ten members of a single family disappeared after Hamas assaulted the Be’eri Kibbutz early on October 7. Lilach Kipnis, 60, and her husband, Eviatar, 65, were taking refuge in the shelter of their home when their relatives last heard from them. Eight other family members also went missing from the kibbutz: Lilach’s sister Shoshan Haran, the founder of an agricultural NGO; her husband, Avshalom Haran; their daughter Adi Shoham; her partner, Tal Shoham; their two children, Naveh and Yahel Shoham, ages 8 and 3; Avshalom’s sister Sharon Avigdori; and her daughter Noam Avigdori.

  • Roni (25) who worked on the sound team of the Nova Music Festival was kidnapped to Gaza, his condition is unknown. His sister Yulia described that, "he managed to escape from the party... at 10 o'clock he wrote 'I'm fine', at 11 he sent a location, at 12 someone answered in Arabic and then they hung up.”

  • Maya Regev, 21, and her brother Itay, 18, were taken from the music festival on October 7. Their family has discovered a Hamas video showing Itay in captivity in Gaza. Although Maya was not pictured in the video, the Israeli army has told the family both are hostages in Gaza. Officials gave no further information. “I want to know that my kids are alive,” said their father, Ilan Regev.

  • Ada Sagi, 75, was born in Tel Aviv to Holocaust survivors from Poland, and is a retired Arabic teacher who has campaigned for peace in the region. She was seized from the Nir Oz kibbutz. “Maybe I’m a fantasist, but my hope is that they realize that they actually kidnapped 80 people from this community who are all peace activists,” said her son, Noam. “Everything in their fibre is about peace, it’s about love, it’s about kindness.”

  • Mia Schem, 21, a French-Israeli woman taken hostage during the attack on the Supernova music festival, has appeared in a video released by Hamas on October 16. In the footage, Schem, whose injured arm is shown being treated by an unidentified medical worker, asks to be returned to her family as quickly as possible. Schem’s mother told CNN after the video was released that she believed her daughter’s resilience would help her survive. “She’s very, very strong. That’s why we all believed in our hearts that she is alive, because we knew that she will never give up.”

  • Agam "Gagi" Berger, 19, from Kibbutz Nir Oz was supposed to meet her father for lunch on Saturday, October 7th. She was last heard from on October 7th, crying on the phone from a safe room and then spotted in a video being taken to Gaza by Hamas terrorists.

  • Sharon and her daughter Noam were kidnapped along with eight other family members from Kibbutz Be’eri.

  • Amit Shani, 16, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri around 12:30 p.m. on October 7. Hamas gunmen ordered Amit at gunpoint, along with his mother, Tal, and two younger sisters, out of their safe room after setting the house on fire. The gunmen ordered Amit into a car along with two other men and drove them away. Amit’s mother and two sisters took refuge in a neighbor’s house, hiding until 10 p.m. They and Amit’s father all survived.

  • Keith and Aviva Siegel are American citizens who were witnessed being kidnapped from their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7. Aviva is passionate about Arab-Jewish co-existence and Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. She is the co-CEO of AJEEC-NISPED (Arab-Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperation and Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development) and a leader of Women Wage Peace.

  • Keren and her son Ohad were visiting Keren’s parents when they were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz. Ohad is a bright kid who loves soccer, tennis, and solving Rubik’s cubes. He is in an elite school for accelerated study. He was supposed to turn nine on October 23rd, and his mom had planned a birthday party with his friends.

  • Karina Ariev, 19, was taken hostage from her army base. She last seen in a video on Telegram being abducted by Hamas. Her older sister, Sasha said: "she loves her family and we are always her priority. She is very loyal to her friends and is just a young girl who loves beauty products and to decorate her room with stickers.”

  • The last message Hadas Kalderon received was from her husband, Ofer, saying that he and her daughter were trying to hide outside their father’s home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. A video later surfaced on social media showing her captive son being led away by Hamas.

  • Omer Neutra, an Israeli-American citizen born in New York, was captured by Hamas while serving in the IDF, his family said. "He's a born leader and a great son, friend, and a passionate, giving person. After graduating high school, he decided to defer his college acceptance and spend a gap year in Israel connecting with our family's roots," Neutra's parents, Ronen and Orna Neutra, said in a statement posted to Facebook: "This experience impacted his decision to stay in Israel and do what he believed in — serving and protecting the people of Israel." Omer turned 22 the week following his capture.

  • Ofir Engel, 17, was kidnapped by Hamas at Kibbutz Be'eri. Ofir was visiting his girlfriend in the kibbutz near Sderot when he called his father at 6am to tell him alarms had gone off, but not to worry. Ofir, his girlfriend, and her family - her mother, father, and two younger sisters, who asked not to be named - were sheltering inside the safe room. Though Ofir and his girlfriend’s father fought to hold the door shut, they could not keep the intruders from getting in. Ofir, his girlfriend and the family were taken outside the house along with the family’s dog, which was then shot and killed. The mother and her three daughters were told to sit on the grass as Hamas terrorists took all their mobile phones before putting Ofir and his girlfriend’s father into a black car and drove away.

  • On Oct 7, Hamas terrorists shot and kidnapped Shani from the Nova festival. She is documented on a terrifying video, lying naked in their truck while surrounded by terorrists. She is reported alive and needs immediate, live-saving care.

  • Hamas terrorists kidnapped Erez along with his father, grandmother, sister and cousin. They are held captive in Gaza & in need of urgent medical care and medication access.

  • Hamas terrorists captured Sahar and four members of her immediate family. She is currently captured in Gaza with her father, grandmother, brother, and cousin, who has special needs.

  • Noam Elikim and his family have been taken hostage in Gaza. He was kidnapped from his home in Nahal Oz along with his children Dafna and Ella, his partner Dikla Arava, and her son Tomer (15).

  • Vivian Silver, 74, was born in Canada. A peace and human rights activist, she founded the Women Wage Peace organization. She was last heard from at 11:07 on October 7 when she messaged her loved ones that she heard Arabic shouting and shots fired inside her Be'eri home.

  • Danielle and her 6 year old daughter Emilia Aloni have been taken hostage in Gaza. They were taken from the Otef Aza region along with Danielle’s sister and brother-in-law, and their twin daughters. All 6 family members have been missing since Saturday morning following the massacre at their kibbutz.

  • Ariel Bibas (3) was last seen in his mother Shiri Bibas-Silberman’s arms, with his brother Kfir, being taken hostage from their home in Kibbutz Nir-Oz.

  • Only 2 years old, Aviv was kidnapped from the kibbutz near Gaza with her mother and sister . They were last seen on video footage released from Hamas being taken on a truck to Gaza. Her father tracked her mothers phone which last pinged in Khan Younis, a southern city in Gaza.

  • Only 5 years old, Raz was kidnapped from the kibbutz near Gaza with her mother and sister. They were last seen on video footage released from Hamas being taken on a truck to Gaza. Her father tracked her mothers phone which last pinged in Khan Younis, a southern city in Gaza.

  • He is a 23 year old American who was last seen at the Nova festival. His family has information from someone who hid in the bomb shelter that he had been injured, his arm perhaps sheared off in one of the explosions; in any case, he was seen boarding the truck conscious but with a tourniquet. His last known location from his phone shows him on the border with Gaza at 12:45 p.m.

  • Ron is a soldier who served on base near the Gaza envelope. He was kidnapped and dragged to Gaza. Ron’s family lost contact with him via phone when direct communication with him stopped. His last text read: “That’s it, they’re here, it’s over, I love you”. Ron’s family has since found a social media video in which they watched his entire kidnapping. “I saw my son being led, beaten and humiliated, but totally alive”.

  • Nir Elzini was kidnapped from his home in Kfar Gaza on October 7th. He was taken alongside his girlfriend. His last message was sent around 10am on October 7th.

  • Niv Raviv was kidnapped from her home in Kfar Gaza along with her boyfriend. Niv’s last message to her family was on October 7th around 10am.

  • Karla is a Brazilian national. Her last known correspondence was a series of messages dispatched on Saturday morning, she has not been heard from since.

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National Council of Jewish Women’s Israel Granting Program Emergency Appeal supports efforts on the ground to gender justice organizations meeting the immediate needs of women and children.

Jewish Federation of North America’s Operation Swords of Iron Emergency Fund supports victims' families, trauma counseling and resources, and direct aid including food and shelter for all those impacted.