The costs of Israel's longest war, for Israelis
toggle caption John Wessels/AFP via Getty Images
This story is part of NPR's coverage of two years since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the ongoing war in Gaza. For more reporting, analysis and different views of the conflict, go to npr.org/mideastupdates.
JERUSALEM — On a street named Gaza lives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a top-floor apartment near a sushi restaurant.
Outside, one recent afternoon, a father stood holding a megaphone.
"Bibi and Sara," he calls out to the prime minister, using his nickname, and his wife. "It's Rom's dad."
Ofir Braslavsky's 21-year-old son Rom is still being held hostage in Gaza, two years after Hamas led an attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, sparking the devastating Gaza war.
toggle caption Eyal Warshavsky/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
As Netanyahu intensified the war this year, families of hostages have intensified their own war with Netanyahu — pressing him to strike a deal with Hamas to get their loved ones back before it's too late.
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These families are among those in Israel who have paid the most agonizing personal cost of two years of prolonged war.
"I'm not going to let you kill my son and bring him back in a body bag," Braslavsky shouts.
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