Rachel Abrams
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Appearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
Now it says 36.
So as soon as we dropped off our luggage, we went straight to what's become the epicenter of the push to return the hostages to Israel, a place known as Hostage Square.
It's a concrete public plaza between an art museum and a public library, and it's across the street from the Israeli military's headquarters.
And in the weeks and months following October 7th, this place developed into a sort of living, interactive memorial to the hostages that were taken on that day.
There are big white canvas tents.
Some of them are for shade.
Some of them are sort of information booths.
And there are little pop-up stores selling T-shirts and books and pins.
But the whole space has become a kind of remembrance area.
Every square inch of this place seems like it has a photo of a hostage or a message for them or some kind of memento.
And there are other things that feel very specific to this place and to this war.
There's a piano that anybody can come up and play because one hostage loved to play the piano.
Can you describe what we're looking at?
It's the remaking of the tunnel.
And there's even kind of an interactive, artistic replica of a Hamas tunnel where the hostages are believed to be held.
I remember the tunnel from the last time I was in Israel, over the summer, when it felt so different.
There was no hostage deal in sight.
The mood was somber and despondent, angry.
The mood was optimistic, and people were excited.
The other remarkable difference... We really have to thank America for the deal, especially Donald Trump.