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New York City Marathon runners to wear T-shirts with pictures of hostages held by Hamas
(New York Jewish Week) – On Sunday, Mark Shapiro will be running his 15th New York City Marathon. But as he joins the 50,000 or so runners setting out on the 26.2-mile route, he’ll do something he’s never done before: wear a T-shirt adorned with the image of an Israeli child held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.
“These are civilians and [Hamas] crossed every line. Everyone needs to support these innocent people and the hostages and their families,” Shapiro said. “It’s the biggest marathon on the planet, it gets the most coverage. Everybody who can do so really needs to use this as a platform.”
Shapiro is one of two dozen marathon runners who will race while wearing the picture of a child kidnapped by the terror group, which killed and wounded thousands in its Oct. 7 invasion of Israel while taking some 240 people captive, including dozens of children. In the nearly one month since, a massive global movement has emerged to draw attention to the hostages’ plight amid Israel’s onglong war with Hamas in Gaza. The effort has included the dissemination and posting of “Kidnapped” flyers across the globe, as well as public displays such as empty Shabbat tables, strollers and beds to symbolize the hostages’ absence.
“We just thought it would be a good way for us here in New York to remind the world to not forget about the hostages and about the fact that we have 30 children still kidnapped,” said Shany Granot-Lubaton, a prominent Israeli activist in New York City. “We’re trying to keep everyone aware of this in any way we can and the marathon is this huge event in New York.”
The New York City Marathon is the world’s largest, last year boasting more than 47,800 finishers from 131 countries. In addition, thousands of spectators line the route, which begins in Staten Island and stretches across the boroughs before ending in Central Park in the West 60s. This year’s race, the 52nd annual marathon, will be broadcast on ESPN2 as well as locally, on WABC-TV Channel 7.
Granot-Lubaton has been at the forefront of local advocacy efforts for the hostages in New York City. In the aftermath of the attack, the group she helps organize, UnXeptable — which once focused on protesting the Israeli government’s judicial overhaul — changed its motto from “Saving Israeli Democracy” to “Saving Israel.”
Over the past few weeks, Granot-Lubaton has spearheaded several events designed to raise awareness about the hostages, including a candlelight vigil at Columbus Circle on Wednesday night and demonstrations in front of the United Nations. She has also worked with delegations of the families of the missing as they arrived in New York to meet with government officials and the press.
Yaakov Shapiro, a 29-year-old Israeli who is not related to Mark Shapiro, will run this Sunday not only wearing a hostage T-shirt but also wrapping himself in the Israeli flag. Running the marathon has been a dream for him since he moved to New York three years ago, he said, and despite contending with a stress fracture, he felt the attack and the war between Israel and Hamas has made him more committed than ever to complete the race’s grueling course.
“It was a really challenging month — I feel like I literally have nothing left to lean on,” he told the New York Jewish Week. “But somehow I just keep going because I’m full of hope for a better future and for peace.”
He added, “It’s such a big day — the whole city is shut down and everyone is celebrating. It’s a great opportunity to stand out and to show what I believe in. On top of celebrating my first marathon ever, I’ll also be celebrating the fact that I’m a proud Israeli.”
A crowd of supporters will gather on Sunday at Columbus Circle, near the finish line, where they’ll hear remarks from the brother of Yarden Roman-Gat, a 35-year-old mother who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 7, according to the Times of Israel. Her husband, Alon Gat, and their 3-year-old daughter, Geffen, escaped.
“Time is running out,” Granot-Lubaton said. “It’s almost a month now that they’re over there and we need to save them.”
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The post New York City Marathon runners to wear T-shirts with pictures of hostages held by Hamas appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.