Israel drops leaflets on under-siege Palestinians asking for their help to find Israeli hostages, as Gaza death toll hits 25,000

Israeli forces have dropped leaflets in Gaza asking residents for help finding hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, as bombardment of the besieged strip continues.

The leaflets dropped in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza strip, on Saturday featured photos of 33 hostages with their names written in Arabic.

“Do you want to return home? Please make the call if you recognize one of them,” the leaflets read, per Reuters.

Hamas took around 240 hostages to Gaza from Israel after its surprise attack in October. Since then, more than 100 hostages have been released as part of temporary cease-fire agreements.

Israel says that 132 hostages remain unaccounted for, of which around 27 are believed to be dead, per Reuters.

The leaflets were dropped in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians are taking shelter amid intense bombing and fighting between Israel Defense Forces and Palestinian fighters in the enclave.

“They are asking people’s help because they are unable to get to their hostages because of the resistance,” Abu Ali, a north Gaza resident, told Reuters. “End the war, Netanyahu, and get your people back.”

Meanwhile, more than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began its aerial bombardment campaign and ground invasion, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its death toll but says around two-thirds of those killed were women and children, which is supported by United Nations estimates.

The families of Israeli hostages have also called on Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu to find a solution to free the remaining hostages.

Several families camped outside one of Netanyahu’s residences on Friday night to protest what they described as government inaction to free their captured relatives.

“He needs to choose…and end the hostage saga,” said Eli Shtivi, whose son Idan is one of the hostages, per The Times of Israel.

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