Malawi Foreign Minister Nancy Tembo and Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz celebrated the opening of Malawi's embassy in Israel, Maariv reported on Thursday.
In 2020, Malawi's Foreign Minister, Eisenhower Mkaka, came on a diplomatic mission to Israel. During his visit, he met with Prime Minister Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, who emphasized Malawi's president Lazarus Chakwera's intention to establish a permanent embassy in Israel.
On Thursday (18 April), the current Malawai Foreign Minister, Nancy Tembo, fulfilled her predecessor's promise to Israel in a ceremony in Tel Aviv with Katz and Minister of Interior Moshe Arbel.
During the ceremony, Tembo, Katz, and Arbel signed an agreement to pilot a program to bring approximately 3,000 agricultural workers to Israel.
Just before the ceremony, Katz and Tembo met with the families of the hostages Carmel Gat, Or Levy, and Daniel Peretz.
"195 days have passed since October 7. We must return all of the 133 hostages held by Hamas, and we are working in every possible way to bring them back home." Katz said. He then added, "We are at a critical time after Hamas' refusal to the proposal brought by the mediators." the Israeli foreign minister then stressed the importance of pressuring Hamas to return the hostages without being pressured into a ceasefire first.
Meeting with family members of the hostages
Tembo listened to stories told by the family members of the hostages and saw pictures of them. She then promised to assist in the efforts to return the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, agreeing to Katz's request to push for their release on international discussions, conditioning a ceasefire on their release.
"We will continue to support Israel even when all the others don't" said Tembo during the ceremony. She further added that all of the hostages must be returned, saying she "has never seen such inhumane acts as there were on October 7. Malawi prays for the hostages."
Michael, hostage Or Levy's brother, said that Or was kidnapped from the Supernova music festival party, "his wife Einav was murdered, and their two-year-old son Almog was left alone."
Carmel Gat's cousin Gil said to Tembo that Carmel was kidnapped from Be'eri after a two-month-long trip to India. "Hostages that returned told us that she is still alive," said Gil, "but we are running out of time. They must return as soon as possible since time is killing them in captivity."
Doron, Daniel's father, shared that his son's body is still in Gaza, held by Hamas. "He saved many in Nir Oz and was kidnapped from inside his tank by terrorists. The soldiers cannot be left behind. They must be a part of any deal."