Editor’s note: International News Editor Michael K. Lavers will be on assignment in Israel through Oct. 9.

TEL AVIV, Israel — It has been quiet in Israel’s largest city since I arrived on Friday afternoon.

An Israeli airstrike in Beirut, the Lebanese capital, on Sept. 27 killed Hassan Nasrallah, the long-time leader of Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group. Iran on Oct. 1 launched upwards of 200 ballistic missiles at Israel.

Rosh Hashanah ended on Friday. 

Monday will mark a year since Hamas launched its surprise attack against southern Israel from the Gaza Strip. The group, which the U.S. and Israel have designated a terrorist organization, claimed responsibility for an Oct. 1 attack at a Tel Aviv light rail station that left seven people dead and more than a dozen others injured.

The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says Israeli forces have killed more than 41,000 people in the enclave since Oct. 7. Reuters on Friday reported the Lebanese Health Ministry said Israeli airstrikes in Beirut and elsewhere in the country over the last two weeks have killed more than 2,000 people.

An Israeli airstrike in the West Bank city of Tulkarem on Thursday killed 18 people in a Palestinian refugee camp. 

The Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet, the country’s security agency, said the airstrike killed Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi, a senior Hamas commander, and 11 other Hamas operatives. The Associated Press reported the airstrike also killed a family of four, including two young children.

The International Criminal Court in May announced it plans to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders — Yehya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh.

Karim Khan, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, said the five men have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and Israel. (A suspected Israeli airstrike on July 31 killed Haniyah while he was in the Iranian capital of Tehran to attend Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s inauguration.)

Here are some things I have seen since I arrived in Tel Aviv.

• Banners that read “Bring Them Home Now!” in reference to the hostages who remain in Gaza are on overpasses and buildings throughout the city. Several people who were jogging along Tel Aviv’s seafront promenade on Saturday morning were wearing “Bring Them Home Now!” t-shirts.

• “FCK HMS” stickers are on streetlights across Tel Aviv.

• I could not access Al Jazeera’s website on Saturday. (The Israeli government in May banned the Qatar-based network from working in the country, and shut down its bureaus in East Jerusalem and Nazareth, a predominantly Arab city in northern Israel. A judge in June extended the ban for 45 days. Israeli soldiers on Sept. 22 raided Al Jazeera’s bureau in Ramallah, the Palestinian capital, and ordered its closure for 45 days.)

• Two men and a woman who were wearing nightclub wrist bands were sitting on beach chairs at Hilton Beach at around 8 a.m. on Saturday and talking about traveling to the Philippines and Thailand. A helicopter with what appeared to be two missiles attached to it flew south along the city’s seafront while swimmers, kayakers, and paddleboarders were in the water.

• A middle-aged man who was wearing an IDF uniform had a machine gun strapped across his body while he had dinner with his family at a restaurant on Friday night.

The situation in Gaza, in northern Israel, in Lebanon, and on the West Bank is obviously very different than in Tel Aviv.

The events of the last year have been horrific for LGBTQ communities in Israel, in Palestine, and throughout the region. The Los Angeles Blade remains committed to documenting this impact while on the ground in Israel.

International News Editor Michael K. Lavers will be on assignment in Israel through Oct. 9.

Lavers will be in the country on Oct. 7, a year after Hamas launched its surprise attack against Israel, and will cover how the country’s LGBTQ community has coped with that horrible day and its ongoing aftermath. Lavers will also cover how the war in the Gaza Strip has impacted LGBTQ Palestinians — in both Gaza and the West Bank and among the Palestinian diaspora in the U.S.

Lavers arrived in Israel three days after Iran launched upwards of 200 ballistic missiles at the country.

An Israeli airstrike in Beirut, the Lebanese capital, on Sept. 27 killed Hassan Nasrallah, the long-time leader of Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group.

Hezbollah since last October has launched rockets into northern Israel. The Israeli military earlier this week began a ground incursion into southern Lebanon. 

“The horrific events of Oct. 7 and their aftermath have impacted LGBTQ people in Israel, in the Gaza Strip, in the West Bank, in Lebanon, and elsewhere throughout the Middle East and around the world,” said Lavers. “It is critically important for the Washington Blade to document the situation on the ground, and to show how the horrific events of the last year have impacted LGBTQ communities throughout the region.”

“We are committed to objective coverage of the situation in the Middle East and to highlighting the plight of LGBTQ Palestinians and Israelis caught up in the war,” said Blade editor Kevin Naff. “The generous support of our readers enables this coverage so please consider making a donation at bladefoundation.org to ensure the Blade’s 55-year record of award-winning journalism continues.”

The Israeli government on Sunday announced a gay man’s sister-in-law and five other hostages were killed in the Gaza Strip before they could be rescued.

The Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry in a press release said members of the Israel Defense Forces on Saturday “located” Carmel Gat’s body. The IDF also found the bodies of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Ori Danino, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Eden Yerushalmi.

The Associated Press said IDF forces found the bodies in a tunnel underneath Rafah, a city in southern Gaza that borders Egypt. Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, reported Israeli officials said the hostages “were shot at close range” by Hamas militants on Aug. 29 or Aug. 30.

“This is a difficult day for us,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a video message. “Together with all citizens of Israel, I was outraged to the depths of my soul by the horrific, cold-blooded murder of six of our hostages.”

“I say to the Hamas terrorists who murdered our hostages and I say to their leaders: You will pay the price,” he added. “We will not rest, nor will be silent. We will pursue you, we will find you, and we will settle accounts with you.”

Gat was visiting her parents in Be’eri, a kibbutz that is near the border of Israel and Gaza, on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise attack against southern Israel from the Palestinian enclave it governs. 

Hamas militants killed Gat’s parents. 

They kidnapped Gat and her sister-in-law, Yarden Roman, and brought them to Gaza. Roman’s husband, Alon Gat, with their young daughter, Geffen, jumped out of the car in which the militants had placed them and escaped before it drove into Gaza. Hamas, which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization, released Roman on Nov. 29, 2023.

The Jerusalem Post reported Carmel Gat, an occupational therapist, while in Gaza taught other hostages yoga and meditation to help them endure their captivity.   

Her brother-in-law, Gili Roman, a teacher who is a member of Israel’s Nemos LGBTQ+ Swimming Club, included a broken heart emoji in a brief email exchange with the Washington Blade on Sunday.

The Israeli government says Hamas militants killed roughly 1,200 people on Oct. 7, including upwards of 370 partygoers and others at an all-night music festival in Re’im, a kibbutz that is a few miles southwest of Be’eri. Carmel Gat was one of the upwards of 250 people who Hamas militants took hostage. 

The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says more than 40,000 people have died in the enclave since the war began. 

The Washington Post reported an 11-month-old boy in Gaza contracted polio last month, and there are several other suspected cases. UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, and the World Health Organization on Sunday began a mass polio vaccination campaign.

Hezbollah, which the U.S. and Israel have designated a terrorist organization, has launched rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel. The Houthis have also launched rockets towards Israel and have attacked commercial ships in the Red Sea.

Iran, which backs the Houthis and Hezbollah, on April 13 launched a drone and missile attack against Israel in response to a suspected Israeli air strike killed two Iranian generals in Damascus, Syria. 

An Israeli air strike on July 30 in Beirut killed a senior Hezbollah commander. A suspected Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, the following day killed Ismail Haniyah, Hamas’s top political leader.

Goldberg-Polin’s parents, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 21.

‘We did not do enough to save our Carmel’

Hundreds of thousands of people on Sunday took to the streets of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and other cities and towns across Israel to demand Netanyahu agree to a ceasefire that would secure the remaining hostages’ release.

Carmel Gat’s family in a statement to the Jerusalem Post on Sunday said it refused to meet with Netanyahu.

“We have no interest in speaking with the person responsible for Carmel’s death or in being part of his media circus,” said the family. “We will not allow him to use us as justification or legitimacy for the murder of the next hostage. The blood of the hostages is on his hands.”

“We did not do enough to save our Carmel,” it added. “We ask that for the memory of Carmel and for the rescue of the hostages still in captivity — take to the streets and shut down the country until everyone comes home.”

A Wider Bridge in an email it sent to supporters on Sunday said “the horrifying news of the Hamas murder of six hostages — Ori Danino, Carmel Gat, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Eden Yerushalmi — cuts deep.” 

“In a sense, they are all our family,” reads the email. “The six were found executed in a tunnel in Rafah as their rescue was becoming a possibility.”

A Wider Bridge said it also “came to know Hersh through his parents’ advocacy, which brought his story and the plight of all the hostages to millions.” The email also notes A Wider Bridge “has also grown close to the family of Carmel Gat” since Oct. 7.

“She was stolen from Kibbutz Be’eri along with her sister-in-law, Yarden,” said A Wider Bridge. “Yarden’s brothers, Gili and Nili, are gay men active in the Israeli LGBTQ community and involved in the hostage families group. They have spoken with our community on several AWB programs. We exhaled a little when Yarden was released from the hellscape in which her cousin remained, and we are devastated by their pain today at the execution of Carmel.” 

WDG is the Washington Blade’s media partner in Israel. This article originally ran on their website on Wednesday.

TEL AVIV, Israel — Tel Aviv-Yafo authorities on Wednesday announced the cancellation of Tel Aviv’s annual Pride parade.

The municipality said it will instead hold a rally as a sign of pride, hope, and freedom.

The decision was made after municipality representatives consulted with LGBTQ+ community organizations, LGBTQ+ party promoters, and venue owners in the city. Possible alternatives to the Pride parade were discussed. 

Mayor Ron Huldai in a post he published expressed the self-evident reasons for making the change.

“This is not the time for celebrations,” Huldai wrote. “In coordination with the organizations of the LGBTQ community, we decided that this year, instead of the Pride parade, we will hold a rally in Tel Aviv-Yafo as a sign of pride, hope, and freedom. 132 of our sons and daughters are still kidnapped in Gaza, the circle of bereavement is expanding every day, and we are in one of the most difficult periods of the State of Israel.”

“Tel Aviv-Yafo is the home of the LGBTQ community, it was and always will be,” he added. “Out of our great commitment to the community, this year we decided to divert part of the budget intended for the production of the Pride parade in favor of the activities of the ‘LGBTQ Center’ in Tel Aviv-Yafo. We feel the pain of the entire country, and at the same time we do not stop for a moment the fight for equality and freedom — for everyone and everything. See you at the Pride parade in June 2025.”

The coalition of LGBTQ+ community organizations welcomed the decision.

“We welcome the decision of the Tel Aviv Municipality not to hold the Pride parade as usual this year,” they said. “In these difficult days, when we are all in pain and grieving and when many of our brothers and sisters are not at home, either as evacuees from their homes or kidnapped in Gaza, and our hearts are not whole until they return. It is true that the Pride events will undergo adjustments to the times.” 

“Since time immemorial, the Pride parade in Tel Aviv, in contrast to the other parades and events throughout the country, has been a celebration of freedom, love, and equal rights and now, in these difficult days, it is important to continue to fight for a free and tolerant future even if we avoid the celebration,” they added. “Participation in the various Pride events around the country is more important than ever and we call on all members and members of the gay community and everyone who believes in a liberal, freer, and more just society to get out of the house and take part both in the rally in Tel Aviv and in the various events for the fight for equality and tolerance across the country.”

WDG, the Washington Blade’s media partner in Israel, published this article on their website on Thursday.

JERUSALEM — Supreme Court judges on Thursday unanimously ruled that the Population Authority must register female couples as mothers on the birth certificates of their children they have together.

The decision was made following a petition submitted by nine female couples, mothers of children born through anonymous sperm donation. The panel of judges, headed by Supreme Court President Uzi Fogelman and Judges Ruth Ronen and Alex Stein, rejected the Population Authority’s claim that the birth certificate reflects only biological parentage and ruled that both the birth mother and her partner must be registered as the child’s parent.

“The exclusion of the non-biological parent from the birth certificate means a preference for the position of the biological parent over parenting based on other parents,” Fogelman wrote in the ruling. “In terms of substantive law, the parenting of both parents — the biological parent and the non-biological parent — is equal and it includes the same basket of parental rights and duties. I do not believe that when at the level of substantive law there is equality between the parents, there is room to distinguish between them at the level of registration in the birth certificate.”

Fogelman also referred to the interpretation that may be given to the lack of registration on the birth certificate as “an offensive message according to which we are dealing with relationships that are different in nature and essence: while biological parentage is ‘real’ parentage, non-biological parentage is inferior and suspect parentage, a kind of ‘conditional’ parentage.”

The ruling does not apply to male couples because the petition dealt with couples who conceived with the help of anonymous sperm donation.

The ruling was issued as part of a petition submitted around eight years ago by nine female couples, who claimed that not registering the non-biological mother on the birth certificate deprives the child of rights that include acquiring foreign citizenship and petitioned the Interior Ministry and the Population and Immigration Authority to issue their children amended birth certificates that include the names of both mothers.

The Population Authority refused the couples’ request on the grounds that the birth certificate is a document that reflects the biological parentage at the time of birth, and is not updated with the passage of time. The petitioners claimed that the Population Authority’s policy violates the right to family life and the right to equality, since it discriminates against same-sex couples. And as evidence, they pointed out that when it comes to heterosexual couples, the Interior Ministry issues them corrected birth certificates — even in cases of adoption by the spouse of the biological mother or in the case where sperm donation is used for the birth of the child.

Fogelman accepted the respondents’ position according to which the birth certificate was intended to document the identity of the child at the initial point in time of his life. Alongside this, he rejected the respondents’ position that the birth certificate was intended to reflect biological parentage.

“A birth certificate is one of the most important documents a person has. It confers a basket of rights and is also used for the purpose of regulating citizenship in foreign countries,” said attorneys Daniela Ya’akobi, Hagai Kalai and Achinoam Orbach, who represented the petitioners. “For all these years, the state has insisted on denying children of two mothers a birth certificate that reflects the reality of their lives. The judgment of the High Court of Justice put an end to ugly and unnecessary discrimination, which has no purpose and never had. It is a great victory, but no man needs or wants to win his country. The time has come for the state, on its own initiative, to allow full equality of rights for all its citizens, including LGBT people.”

Aguda Chair Hila Peer responded to the ruling.

“This is a historic day when our families are equal,” she said. “For years the Interior Ministry has refused to register proud mothers on the birth certificate and now, thanks to the High Court of Justice, we are taking a significant step towards equality.”

WDG is the Washington Blade’s media partner in Israel. WDG published this article on their website.

KIRYAT TIVON, Israel — Sheila Weinberg on Feb. 27 wrote another chapter in LGBTQ+ history in Israel when she was elected as the country’s first Transgender council member. 

Weinberg, the 65-year-old chair of the “Transiot Israel” association and a former teacher, was elected to the Kiryat Tivon Local Council after her “More to Tivon” list won 37.7 percent of the votes.

In the past she was a member of the LGBTQ Committee in Kiryat Tivon and in the last year she was active in the protest against the proposed judicial reforms. Weinberg has two children and a granddaughter. She started the process of affirming her gender about five years ago when she was 60 years old.

“Many people in Kiryat Tivon knew exactly who I was and about my past. It didn’t bother. It seems to me that in certain places it was helpful,” Weinberg told WDG. “The residents of Tivon decided clearly in favor of a liberal, pluralistic and democratic Tivon. I have been a member of Meretz for many years and in these elections we joined a single list with ‘Yesh Atid’ and ‘Our Tivon’ and ‘Hoze Hadash’ (‘New Contract’), a list whose prominent values are equality among all. On the list were the women who founded the LGBT Committee in Tivon that operates with full vigor.”

Despite the historic title as the first trans council member in Israel, Weinberg is not content with just being active in the issues of the LGBTQ+ community, and aims (to become involved with) the education portfolio in her locality.

“I intend to use this branding to operate in Tivon in two main areas: Education and the LGBT community. Naturally, I see myself as someone who has a well-founded view of education in Tivon and I would be happy to be incharge of the education in Tivon, alongside the LGBT community. I have been teaching all my life. I taught for 35 years in several places, including the University of Haifa, and since the war started I have also been replacing a teacher who went into the reserves voluntarily.

Furthermore, I think I got my foot in the door for Trans girls and Trans boys. I will of course also continue to act as the chairman of ‘Transiot Israel’ and at the same time promote the needs of our community, which in the Haifa and Tivon area suffers from a lack of people.

I think I can speak for girls whose life path was less paved than mine. For those girls and boys who were thrown out on the street, out of school, who suffer physical and verbal violence, who are discriminated against economically and socially. And most of all, I would love to hear from my friends in the community and my friends there what the priorities are, not necessarily in Tivon but in Tel Aviv and other places.”

Other candidates from the LGBTQ+ community won in other municipalities in Israel.

In Tel Aviv-Yafo, Chen Arieli and Moti Reif entered the council for another term, as well as Reut Nagar and Shahar Levy. Assaf Weiss will serve as a council member in Ramat Gan, lawyer Daniela Jacobi in the Ramat Hasharon Council and Ella Kaufman will serve another term on the Kadima Council.

IBB, Yemen — Reports indicate a court in Yemen has sentenced to death 13 people who had been charged with homosexuality.

Agence France-Presse reported the court in Ibb Governorate, which Iran-backed Houthi rebels control, announced the sentences on Feb. 4. The province’s main city is roughly 125 miles south of Sanaa, the rebel-held Yemeni capital.

The State Department’s 2022 human rights report notes Yemeni law criminalizes consensual same-sex sexual relations, “with the death penalty as a sanction under the country’s interpretation of Islamic law.” The report also indicates there were “no known executions of LGBTQI+ persons in recent years.”

The Houthis have been attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea since Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, launched a surprise attack against southern Israel from the Gaza Strip. The U.S. and the U.K. last month launched air strikes against the Iran-backed rebel group. 

By Amber Laenen | BEIRUT, Lebanon — The parent company of Facebook and Instagram is facing calls to improve the safety of LGBTQ+ people on its platforms in the Middle East and North Africa.

Human Rights Watch, Social Media Exchange (SMEX), INSM Foundation for Digital Rights, Helem in Lebanon and Damj Association in Tunisia have initiated the #SecureOurSocials campaign, which emphasizes the need for transparency from Meta.

The campaign, inspired by Human Rights Watch’s “Digital Targeting and Its Offline Consequences for LGBT People in the Middle East and North Africa” 2023 report, sheds light on the digital threats faced by the LGBTQ+ community. The report revealed that security forces in countries like Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia exploit platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to target and harass LGBTQ+ people, leading to offline consequences like arbitrary detention and torture.

Rasha Younes, acting LGBT rights deputy director at Human Rights Watch, urged Meta to be a global leader in making social media safe for everyone. The #SecureOurSocials campaign aims to engage Meta for increased transparency and accountability, urging the company to publish meaningful data on user safety investment, especially in the Middle East and North Africa.

LGBTQ+ people that Human Rights Watch interviewed reported severe real-life consequences; including job loss, family violence, forced relocations and mental health issues due to online targeting on Facebook and Instagram. The campaign calls on Meta to address harmful content, be more responsive to user complaints and enforce policies consistently.

The main goals of the #SecureOurSocials campaign include: 

• Protecting the safety of users

• Addressing online targeting

• Consistent enforcement of policies

• Investment in user safety

• Human rights integration 

“Governments and tech companies share the responsibility for protecting human rights, especially for LGBT individuals.”said Younes. 

Despite previous engagements with Meta, concerns raised by Human Rights Watch said its concerns have not been adequately addressed. 

The #SecureOurSocials campaign provides solutions for Meta to ensure the safety of LGBTQ+ users and urges the company to disclose its annual investment in user safety in the region. It also emphasizes the responsibility of social media companies to respect human rights with nondiscrimination and privacy policies and freedom of expression.

Mohamad Najem of SMEX outlined key recommendations directed at Meta, addressing the urgent need to safeguard user rights, particularly for the LGBTQ+ community. 

Najem underscored the importance of including rights, nondiscrimination and privacy policies and freedom of expression in Meta’s policies. He called for measures to avoid infringing on human rights, systematic handling of issues and the identification and addressing of human rights impacts stemming from their services. 

The recommendations further urged Meta to respect the right to freedom of expression, protect against unauthorized access to personal data and consider the specific experiences of discrimination and marginalization, particularly those faced by LGBTQ+ people in the Middle East and North Africa. 

“Meta needs to ensure that it respects the rights of people, especially when it comes to unauthorized access to their personal data,” added Najem.

Najem highlighted Meta’s struggles with content moderation, pointing out overenforcement and underenforcement issues. The insufficient investment in human content moderators and heavy reliance on automation were identified as undermining Meta’s ability to effectively address content targeting LGBTQ individuals.

Meta’s role in mitigating human rights abuses against LGBTQ+ individuals on its platforms is highlighted, with the campaign demanding accountability and transparency in policy application. Governments in the Middle East and North Africa are also urged to respect and protect the rights of LGBTQ+ people, promoting non-discriminatory laws online and offline.

A Meta spokesperson has not responded to the Washington Blade’s request for comment.

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Amber Laenen is a senior at Thomas More Mechelen University in Belgium. She is majoring in journalism and international relations. Amber is interning with the Blade this semester as part of a continued partnership with the Washington Center.

WASHINGTON — Yarden Roman-Gat, her husband, Alon Gat and their 3-year-old daughter, Geffen, were visiting her in-laws in Be’eri, a kibbutz that is near the border of Israel and the Gaza Strip, on Oct. 7, 2023.

Hamas shortly after 6 a.m. launched a surprise attack against communities in southern Israel from the Palestinian enclave it governs. Four militants placed Roman-Gat and her family into a car with two other Be’eri residents. They jumped out of it as it approached Gaza. Roman-Gat handed her daughter to her husband and they ran away.

The group the U.S. has designated a terrorist organization held Roman-Gat hostage in Gaza until her release on Nov. 29. Her brother, Gili Roman, a gay teacher and member of Israel’s Nemos LGBTQ+ Swimming Club who lives in Tel Aviv, returned to D.C. last week.

“She’s doing well,” Roman told the Washington Blade on Jan. 18 during an interview at a hotel near Union Station.

Roman-Gat spoke to “60 Minutes” less than a month after her release. Roman shared with the Blade details about his sister’s time in captivity.

He said she was alone, with three men guarding her.

“For 53 days she was observed and subjected to the will of three guys,” said Roman. “We are relieved because she was not abused, and we know that other people were abused and violently treated. This is not her case, but it was still a very traumatic experience.”

Militants on Oct. 7 killed her mother-in-law and kidnapped her sister-in-law, Carmel Gat, who remains in Gaza. 

Roman said his sister learned militants had murdered her mother-in-law when she overheard “a very small” part of a song on Israeli radio that had been dedicated to her. 

“This is how she found out that she had been murdered, that her sister-in-law is still a hostage,” Roman told the Blade. “Since they didn’t talk about her daughter and her husband, she concluded that they are alive.”

He said the men who held his sister hostage were members of Hamas and were religious. Roman told the Blade that some of them had university degrees and they explained to Roman-Gat why she had been kidnapped. 

“She was a tool of war,” said Roman. “They told her many times it is not about Gaza and it’s not about Palestine. It’s not about the Palestinians.”

“The only reason that they’re keeping her is for the global fight for Islam, is a sort of global jihad,” he added. “Of course, they do not expect to get a Muslim empire, now. She’s just a tool in the long run ambition of them to have a Muslim empire around the world. This is pretty harsh, and they constantly told her that. This is the kind of extremism that she lived in and had to protect herself (from.)”

Roman said they also forced his sister to wear a hijab.

“She said it became her only shield,” he told the Blade.

Roman said his sister didn’t realize she was going to be released until shortly before it happened. Roman told the Blade the militants wanted her to change out of the hijab she had been wearing and to appear happy, but “she wasn’t willing to do that.”

Roman-Gat reunited with her daughter, husband and her family at a Tel Aviv hospital a few hours after her release.

“It was super exciting,” recalled Roman. “It’s like the birth of somebody you already know … it was very, very moving.”

The Israeli government has said Hamas militants killed roughly 1,200 people on Oct. 7, including at least 260 partygoers and others at an all-night music festival in Re’im, a kibbutz that is a few miles southwest of Be’eri. Carmel Gat is among the roughly 130 people who Hamas continues to hold hostage in Gaza.   

The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says more than 25,000 people have died in the enclave since the war began. Israel after Oct. 7 cut electricity and water to Gaza and stopped most food and fuel shipments.

Hezbollah, which the U.S. and Israel have designated a terrorist organization, has launched rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel.

The Houthis in Yemen have attacked commercial ships in the Red Sea since Oct. 7. The U.S. and the U.K. this month launched air strikes against the Iran-backed rebel group. 

Roman told the Blade that many Israelis do not feel safe in their own country.

“We are all feeling so fragile,” he said.

Roman said his sister thinks that “somebody could take me” when she is on the street.

“I told her I feel exactly the same thing … like somebody can take my family and I will not see them for 100 days and I will not see them anymore,” Roman told the Blade.

He also pointed out more than 100,000 people have been displaced from southern and northern Israel since Oct. 7.  

“We are under severe attacks from the north as well,” said Roman. “People are displaced. They don’t know when they are going to go back home. They know some of their houses have been attacked, demolished, bombarded.”

Roman noted Israelis who live near the West Bank are also concerned “their towns are going to be infiltrated” by militants who have dug tunnels. He also said there are reports of hostages and Israel Defense Forces soldiers killed “almost every day.” (The IDF on Monday said 24 soldiers were killed in Gaza.) 

“We are feeling overwhelmed with fear and anxiety,” said Roman.

The International Court of Justice earlier this month heard legal arguments in South Africa’s case that accuses Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, is under increased pressure to secure the release of the remaining hostages.

“[It’s] hard to answer,” Roman said in response to the Blade’s question about whether the Israeli government has done enough to secure the hostages’ release.

Roman spoke with the Blade after he and other hostages’ relatives met with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), U.S. Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and other lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Roman and his cousin also had a private meeting with U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

“They were so attentive, so reasonable, so supportive,” said Roman, referring to the meeting with Sanders and Warren.

No ceasefire until all hostages are released

Roman was in D.C. days before A Wider Bridge brought a group of LGBTQ+ activists from the U.S. to Israel.

Today we visited Kibbutz Kfar Aza with a delegation of #LGBTQ activists from the United States in order to bear witness to the atrocities of October 7. It was a strong reminder for the values we are fighting for, the values that define us in contrast to our enemies, and most… pic.twitter.com/xX14A8JkkC

— Elad Strohmayer 🎗️ (@EladStr) January 23, 2024

The trip coincided with growing calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“The genocide in Gaza and violent attacks in Israel and Palestine must end,” said the National LGBTQ Task Force ahead of its annual Creating Change conference that took place last week in New Orleans.

Roman told the Blade he was afraid to walk in public while holding a poster with Gat’s picture on it because people “screamed at me, commented on it” when he was in New York.

“They don’t see me as a person,” said Roman. “I don’t think they see Carmel or Yarden as a person. They don’t see them as people. They see them as what Hamas tried to make them, a tool of war.”

“You have many people who are not on our side, who are justifying the fact that people have been murdered, that people have been raped, slaughtered, taken hostage,” he added.

Roman also said there cannot be a ceasefire until Hamas releases all of the hostages.

“There might be a ceasefire if all the hostages will be released,” he said. “The hostages are key.”

By Anita Gould |  JERUSALEM, Israel – Six years since the state pledged to change adoption law so that discrimination against same-sex couples would be eliminated, the Israeli Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously ruled that existing law allows LGBTQ couples to adopt.

The judges issued their decision as part of a discussion of the petition that two LGBTQ couples submitted in 2021 with the Reform Center, the Aguda, Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance and the Proud Fathers Association.

The petition dealt with the adoption law that states “there is no adoption except by a man and his wife together,” thus discriminating against LGBTQ couples who can only adopt children in which heterosexual couples are not interested. These are usually older children or children with special needs, and it is required that the term “man and his wife” in the adoption law be interpreted to include spouses of the same sex.

“Six decades have passed since the box ‘man and his wife together’ was written in the adoption law,” wrote the judges in their decision, “Since then, we have learned to know that a stable and loving family unit, which can form a solid foundation for raising a healthy child, can be a family unit of a man and a woman, of a woman and a woman and of each person — provided that the best interests of the child are preserved. This insight is the focus of the interpretation given by us today to the provision of Section 3 of the law. In this interpretive ruling, which brings same-sex couples through the ‘main door’ of non-adoption, we are walking in a groove that has already been plowed in rulings in the field of family law and in other areas, which over the years have recognized the existence of same-sex relationships, the parenting of same-sex couples and their right for equality. Our ruling even continues an existing interpretive axis that refers to the adoption law, an axis that expands the range of potential efforts beyond the limits of the traditional family model of ‘man and woman,’ in order to fulfill the purpose of the law. This interpretation is therefore required by the changes of the times, the principle of the best interests of the child, human dignity and the principle of equality.”

More than seven years of struggle

The issue of discrimination in the adoption law was raised for the first time in front of the Supreme Court in the first petition submitted in 2016. The State then sought to amend the adoption law within a year and a half so that discrimination against LGBTQ couples would be eliminated. In 2019, a legal memorandum was published on the subject, but it was not published.

After the previous government stated there was no political possibility to amend legislation but they had no objection to the petition being scheduled for hearing before the High Court of Justice, a hearing on the petition was scheduled for the summer of 2022, but it was canceled in light of the fall of the government and the elections held at the end of 2022.

The first hearing on the petition was held in August. 

According to the State’s position submitted in advance of the hearing, the best way is to wait for the amendment of legislation, but because the justice minister believes that there is no political feasibility to amend legislation and due to the welfare minister’s opposition, who claimed that this “adds complexities and difficulties to the child” contrary to the positions of the professionals in his office, there is a legal anchor that will make it possible to receive the expansive interpretation that the petitioners request. The State, as well as the petitioners in this case, insists that this is also required due to the principle of the best interests of the child — to provide a home for the child regardless of the sexual orientation of his parents.

“This is a ray of light in a dark time,” said petitioners Shahar Gloverman and Shay Gortler. “For more than eight years we have been waiting in line for adoption. The High Court of Justice will no longer give us back these years or the consequences of the long wait, but we are happy that the door of adoption has been opened for the next LGBT couples.”

“During the difficult times we are in, we welcome small moments of kindness that inspire hope that we will rise from the ruins for a better, more just and united future,” added petitioners Tzafir Gideon and Ido Ziv, “We thank the court for its ruling that put an end to the discriminatory distinction between us as parents, which has no understanding And between the welfare of the child, one thing and another. Just as there are no second-class children, there are also no second-class parents. Love is love is love.”

A ruling that erases another expression of institutional discrimination

“For over seven years we have been fighting for LGBTQ couples so that they can realize their dream of becoming a family through adoption,” said attorney Ricky Shapira Rosenberg of the Reform Center for Religion and State who represented the petitioners. “We welcome the verdict, which accepted the position The petitioners that there should be no discrimination between same-sex couples and other couples for the purpose of adoption. The court ruled that the law stating that ‘there is no adoption except by a man and a woman’ should be interpreted as applying to couples of the same sex since the purpose of the adoption law is to ensure the welfare of the child, and in this regard there is no difference between LGBT families and heterosexual families. Once again it has been proven that the one who protects human rights in general and of the Lahtav community in particular is the Supreme Court.”

Aguda CEO Ran Shalhavi said “this is a historic victory and a groundbreaking achievement that gives a little light and hope in these difficult days. For years we have been fighting and fighting to be seen as equal in adopting children and starting a family in Israel, while Israeli governments for generations discriminated and incited against us just because of who we are, the Supreme Court once again proves its importance in protecting our rights. This day is the answer to homophobia, hatred, darkness and welfare ministers who for years denied our parentage, leaving us second-class citizens. The war only emphasized how disconnected inequality is from life itself. The time has come for equal rights in primary legislation in the Knesset: in parenting, in security, in marriage, without incitement and discrimination, and we will continue to march proudly until we get there.”

Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance stated “we welcome the verdict that erases yet another expression of long-standing institutional discrimination against the gay community, and congratulate Shai and Shahar and Tzafir and Ado that after years of legal struggle they will be able to expand their families. A big thank you to attorney Ricky Shapira and the Reform Center for Religion and State who led the petition. These are complex and difficult days for Israeli society. We demand that even at this time the political echelon does not stop promoting the rights of the gay community. Just as the battlefield does not distinguish between us, there is no justification for the rulebook to distinguish between us. We all hope that we will know more quiet, loving, and equal days.”

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Anita Gould is an Israeli photojournalist and writer who frequently contributes to Wedge (WDG), an LGBTQ community content news site and web magazine based in Jerusalem. WDG is the Washington Blade’s media partner in Israel. It published a Hebrew version of this story on Thursday.