Elon Musk vows to wear Israeli 'dog tag' until all hostages are freed by Hamas

Billionaire business magnate Elon Musk received a symbolic dog tag from the father of an Israeli citizen held captive by Hamas in Gaza. Musk has promised to wear the purported dog tag till all the hostages are free.

Musk's visit to Israel comes amid a fragile truce in place between the two warring sides - Israel and Hamas, the latter designated a terrorist group by the US, UK, European Union and Australia. Musk was also recently assailed for an anti-Jewish post on his social media platform X.

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"Our hearts are hostage in Gaza," read the metal tag he received from Malki Shem-Tov, the father of hostage Omer Shem-Tov, in a video of Musk's visit, issued on Monday by the office of Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

Musk placed it around his neck. Later on Monday, he wrote on X: "I will wear it every day until your loved ones are released."

Dog tag in Israel amid war with Hamas

The dog tags, prevalent throughout Israel, mark the October7 killing spree by Hamas. On October 7, around 240 people were taken hostage by Hamas and Palestine Islamic Jihad. On Tuesday (Nov 28), Qatar, one of the two chief mediators -- the other being Egypt -- brokering a truce between Israel and Hamas, claimed that at least 40 hostages have gone missing from the captivity of Hamas. Of these, 30 are now reportedly being held by the Palestine Islamic Jihad group.

On November15, Musk posted on X his agreement with a post that falsely claimed Jewish people were stoking hatred against white people, saying the user who referenced the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory was speaking "the actual truth".

After the post on X, top US companies including Walt Disney, Warner Bros Discovery and NBCUniversal parent Comcast suspended their advertisements on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The White House also slammed Musk for what itdescribed as an "abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate" that "runs against our core values as Americans".

(With inputs from agencies)