Calling for deal, hostage families continue four-day march to Jerusalem
Families express optimism about resumption of hostage negotiations and Israeli team in Cairo; Labor MK Naama Lazimi joins demonstrators for their second day of marching
A group of hostage families marching from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to draw attention to their loved ones’ plight set out on the second day of their walk in Thursday morning’s searing heat, accompanied by dozens of supporters.
Walking southeast along the Route 1 highway, protesters chanted slogans demanding the government end the war and reach a deal with Hamas to return all hostages who remain in captivity.
At the start of the day, demonstrators gathered in Latrun for what became a two-hour-long procession toward the community of Mesilat Zion. Police flanked the small group, keeping them confined to the right side of the road as cars sped by.
“Only a hostage deal will help us restore our lives and the life of our country,” Einav Zangauker, the mother of Hamas hostage Matan Zangauker, told the crowd before the march began.
She then took her place at the head of the group with the other hostage families, holding a large banner that read: “Marching for a deal!”
The small march, which began Wednesday in Tel Aviv at Israel Defense Forces headquarters, will culminate in a Saturday night protest outside the Prime Minister’s Office in the capital.
With the resumption of indirect negotiations and an Israeli delegation back in Cairo for talks, the marching families are hopeful that the government is closer than ever to striking a deal.
“There is optimism in the air. Don’t let Netanyahu torpedo the deal,” said Yifat Calderon, the cousin of hostage Ofer Calderon. “We must not miss this opportunity. This may be the last chance to return the abductees alive.”
Knesset member Naama Lazimi (Labor) stopped by midway through Thursday’s march and embraced Zangauker, chatting with her for a short while before departing.
“We need a deal now,” Lazimi wrote on X. “A deal to save the hostages and ourselves. A deal for the revival of Israel.”
The organizers, a group of around a dozen hostage families operating under the name “Kulanu Hatufim” (“We are all hostages”), are known for their fiery protests outside IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv and for blocking the Ayalon Highway every Saturday night.
Police initially declined to approve the march route, but later relented.
The families’ procession grabbed the attention of passers-by, with many drivers honking to the rhythm of protesters’ chants. But some others shouted insults at protests they perceive as politically motivated against the government.
Protest marches to Jerusalem have become a somewhat common occurrence. Last year, many thousands marched against the government’s planned judicial overhaul, and set up camp outside the Knesset for a week following the pilgrimage.
Earlier this year, a group of hostage families organized another march from Kibbutz Re’im, one of the communities which Hamas invaded on October 7, to Jerusalem, which also numbered in the thousands.
This time, however, marchers’ numbers were much smaller. Organizers blamed the heat and time of day — mid-morning on a workday — and said they expected more people to arrive toward evening when temperatures went down.
