Editor’s note: Feb. 17, 2025, marked 500 days in captivity for the remaining 76 of the 250 hostages taken when Hamas terrorists struck southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and killed over 1,200 people.
The Heritage Foundation hosted an event marking those 500 days on Tuesday, hearing from family members of those still held hostage as well as from rescued hostage Ilana Gritzewsky.
Following are lightly edited event remarks from Victoria Coates, vice president of The Heritage Foundation’s Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute.
Preparing for these remarks, it was hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that it’s been 501 agonizing days since the horrific Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. I know for those who have endured captivity or have had a loved one taken, each of these days has been a fresh hell of suffering and uncertainty.
Every hostage who has been…
