Thousands of people gathered in Buenos Aires on Monday to mark the first anniversary of Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel last October 7.
The rally, backed by President Javier Milei, called for the release of hostages held by the Palestinian movement.
Demonstrators holding Israeli flags and photos of hostages gathered in large numbers for the event, organised by the Israeli Embassy in Argentina and organisations from the local Jewish community, the largest in Latin America with some 300,000 members.
The October 7, 2023, attack killed 1,206 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures, including those killed while in captivity in the Gaza Strip.
“It couldn’t be missed – it is a reminder of one of the barbarities that the Jewish people lived through,” said Daniel Krimer, a 70-year-old engineer who was in Israel visiting his daughter when the attack occurred.
“It was a shock for us to suddenly wake up and hear what had happened. Unimaginable,” he recalled, noting that since that day he is “much more sceptical that any peace agreement [with Hamas] can be reached.”
Among the hostages taken by Hamas’ forces were 21 Argentines, seven of whom are still missing, according to the Delegation of Argentine Israeli Associations.
“Bring them home now,” Argentine President Javier Milei posted on his X account on Monday, in a message written in English and Hebrew.
Argentina has suffered two attacks against the Jewish community in history – in 1992 against the Israeli Embassy, which killed 29 people, and in 1994 against the AMIA Jewish community centre building, which left another 85 dead.
Earlier, at the central Plaza de Mayo before the Casa Rosada, dozens of pro-Palestinian sympathisers demanded an end to the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, which has already killed more than 41,900 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to data from the Gaza Health Ministry, which the UN considers reliable.
“We are here in solidarity with the Palestinian people, to denounce the atrocities being committed against them by the state of Israel, which is a genocidal state that attacks the lives of a people,” said Nobel Peace Prize laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel at the demonstration, where Palestinian flags were waved and banners bearing the names of the victims were displayed.
– TIMES/AFP
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