‘Out of captivity.’ When will Passover’s promise reach Gaza hostages?
At sundown Monday evening, as hundreds of Israelis sat down to the Jewish Passover ceremony, the Seder, in Hostages Square in downtown Tel Aviv, a digital clock loomed over them.
One hundred ninety-eight days, 11 hours, nine minutes, and three seconds, it read. The length of time that had elapsed since Hamas assailants seized more than 240 Israeli hostages Oct. 7, to hold them captive in Gaza.
Passover is a seven-day festival of liberation marking the Israelites’ delivery from captivity in Egypt, as
