Hostage families to rally, saying deal to free all captives would be ‘glorious victory’
Families Forum criticizes proposals for staggered-release discussed in latest talks in Doha; Tel Aviv rally numbers limited by security restrictions amid Lebanon rocket fire
The Hostages Families Forum will hold dozens of rallies across the country on Saturday night to demand a hostage deal that would free all the remaining 101 captives in one exchange, saying that only such a deal could give Israel a “glorious victory” over Hamas.
In a statement announcing the rallies, the Hostages Families Forum said Israel could secure a hostage deal now that “Hamas has been vanquished.”
The Forum said families were following the new outline agreements “with alertness, hope and dread.”
“There is no longer a need for stages and outlines,” read the statement. “There is a single need — bring them back in a single blow that will end the war in a glorious victory.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been accused of torpedoing possible hostage deals for political reasons, has vowed that Israel will keep fighting in Gaza until it achieves total victory.
The central weekly rally, on Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, is set to feature speeches from former hostage Maya Regev, and relatives of hostages Tsahi Idan, Omer Neutra, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Lior Rudaeff and Naama Levy. However, the Tel Aviv rally that usually draws tens of thousands of people will remain limited due to Home Front Command restrictions amid persistent rocket fire from Lebanon.
Smaller rallies will be held in Jerusalem, Kiryat Gat and the Shaar HaNegev junction in the south, among others.
On Begin Street, near Hostages Square, pro-hostage deal, anti-government protesters will rally in front of the IDF headquarters. The Peace Partnership, a coalition of leftist groups — some of which take part in the Begin Street protests — will hold an earlier demonstration on Tel Aviv’s Habima Square against the war in Gaza.
The Begin Street and Hostages Square rallies have each drawn roughly 500 people in recent weeks.
The Forum had joined the Begin Street rally for several weeks until both were called off in September due to IDF Home Command restrictions amid the escalation in Lebanon. Public events in Tel Aviv are still restricted to fewer than 2,000 people.
The Forum has repeatedly argued for a single-stage hostage release. Previous draft agreements envisioned multiple stages, beginning with women and injured and elderly hostages.
Multiple speakers at last Saturday’s Hostages Squares rally expressed their fear that if there were a staggered release, hostages not released in the first phase would remain captive.
Negotiations for a hostage deal were renewed after Israel killed Hamas chief Sinwar in mid-October. Mossad chief David Barnea held discussions with mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States in Doha this week, and further talks are slated to be held in Egypt.
Two of the possible deals being discussed are an Egyptian proposal to release four hostages during a two-day ceasefire, and a multi-stage, Qatari-American proposal that would ultimately see all hostages released and the war ended.
The meetings with Barnea, which began Sunday night, tried to combine the two proposals.
Hamas was not involved in the Cairo meetings, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel, but could potentially join a subsequent round, with mediators shuttling between the terror group and Israeli negotiators. The terror group has remained adamant that any deal see an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
The war in Gaza was sparked when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, to kill nearly 1,200 people and take 251 hostages.
It is believed that 97 of the hostages remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
Lazar Berman contributed to this report.
