A SILENT vigil took place on Truro’s Lemon Quay on Sunday as Christians from around Cornwall stood in solidarity with the Jewish community to raise awareness of the hostages still held in captivity in Gaza in the Middle East.

An attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, which included the Nova music festival in Israel, saw 1,200 people killed and an estimated 250 people taken to Gaza. It is thought around 50 hostages remain in Gaza after more than 650 days in captivity, although some are feared dead.

One of those featured on posters held at the vigil was 23-year-old Bar Abraham Kupershtein, who was working as a security guard at the Nova music festival and is believed to still be alive. Bar has four younger siblings and is the primary breadwinner for the family, managing the family business after his father was injured in a car accident six years ago and became dependent on full-time care.

The support group meets every few weeks in Truro and St Ives, and was joined by Cynthia Hollingsworth, a member of Cornwall’s Jewish community and the daughter of Holocaust survivors.

“There are a lot of new reports about things that are happening in the Middle East, but very little is said about how it all started on October 7, 2023,” she said. “We know from hostages who have been released that the conditions they were kept in are extremely bad – they were shackled, sexually abused, tortured, starved.

“As such, we are deeply concerned for those thought to still be alive, and wish to remind the world to find a way to bring them all home, as well as returning the bodies of those who have died with their families for rightful burial and closure.”