Families of captives hold Passover Seder at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square
Second festival of freedom since Oct. 7 comes as Israel submits softened proposal to renew Gaza truce-ceasefire deal, amid reported slow-down in talks under Ron Dermer
Families of Hamas-held captives and their supporters held a public Passover Seder in Tel Aviv Saturday night, as Israel scaled back demands in talks to renew the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, amid reports that negotiations had slowed down under Jerusalem’s new point man.
Responding Friday to reports that talks have lost steam under Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer — a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — the Hostages and Missing Families Forum demanded he reach a deal to end the Gaza war and bring back the remaining 59 captives.
“On the eve of the festival of freedom, we again call on Minister Dermer: Fifty-nine, or resign,” the Forum said.
Among those at the Seder was the mother of hostage Nimrod Cohen. “We can’t go on with life. It’s just not right — it’s not right for Israeli society that there are 59 hostages in captivity,” said Vicki Cohen in a statement.
Also present was Ofir Angrest, whose older brother Matan is another Hamas hostage.
“Passover is the most family-friendly holiday, so we don’t take it for granted that so many people left everything and came to mark the holiday with us in Hostages Square. It’s really moving,” he said.
Separately, the aunt of slain hostage Inbar Haiman, whose body is still held by Hamas in Gaza, held a seder by herself outside of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence.
“For us, the holidays are over. Shabbat is over. The days of joy are over,” Hannah Cohen said in a statement.
“The prime minister needs to understand that we cannot recover without Inbar and without the other 58 hostages who remain in Gaza,” Cohen added.
Ahead of the Tel Aviv event, the Forum had called on Israelis to come to Hostages Square outside the Tel Aviv Museum starting at 7 p.m. “Bring your holiday meal with you, bring a mat or chair, come with the kids, come with friends — let’s be together,” it said.
“How can we sit at the Seder table and tell the story of our journey from slavery to freedom while 59 of our brothers and sisters are still held captive by Hamas?” the Forum asked.
In a video statement via the Forum, Karina Ariev, who was released in January as part of the ceasefire-hostage deal signed that month, urged Israelis marking the Seder to “leave an empty chair for the hostages, and do not forget them.”
“During the Seder we read the verse, ‘In every generation, a person must see themselves as if they personally left Egypt,’ and this changes meaning after experiencing captivity,” said Ariev.
“Although I am here, my heart is still there. There are still 59 hostages waiting for their freedom holiday, waiting to be brought home,” she added. “I think about them, and I think about us because until they return, none of us can truly be free.”
Fellow freed hostage Romi Gonen also called on Israelis to remember the captives, as she reflected on being able to mark her first Passover since returning from Hamas captivity in Gaza.
“My first holiday at home. A holiday that is not really a holiday,” she wrote on Instagram.
“My head is here, but my heart is there. I want to be happy, but the difficulty is overshadowing. Please set up an empty chair, A yellow pin, and a piece of masking tape marking the number of days that the hostages have been in captivity. We must not forget them,” she added.
The Families Forum said it would hold holiday events at Hostages Square next week featuring ex-captives Merav Tal, Moran Stela Yanai and Ilana Gritzewsky on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
The three were among 105 women and children released during the weeklong truce-hostage deal with Hamas in November 2023.
Gritzewsky’s partner Matan Zangauker is one of 24 hostages thought to still be alive — all of them young men. Tal’s partner, Yair Yaakov, is one of 35 captives confirmed dead by the Israel Defense Forces, including a soldier killed fighting in the 2014 Gaza War.
Ariev and 32 others were returned to Israel under the second, most recent ceasefire deal, mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the US, between January and March.
The 42-day first phase of that deal expired on March 2 amid Israel’s refusal to negotiate the potential second stage, which would have required the IDF to withdraw from Gaza entirely — a red line for Netanyahu’s right-wing flank, which has threatened to topple the government. On March 18, Israel resumed hostilities in Gaza with a surprise series of massive airstrikes after Hamas refused to extend the first phase without talks on ending the war.
In exchange for restoring the ceasefire, Israel had demanded the release of 11 living hostages, while Hamas has said it is willing to release just five. Talks have remained at an impasse as Israel expanded its renewed military campaign.
In recent days, Egypt has sought to meet the sides halfway and has begun pushing a new proposal that would see eight living hostages released.
Two officials familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel on Friday that Israel had submitted a softened proposal to Egypt after Netanyahu agreed in a meeting with US President Donald Trump on Monday to scale back Israel’s demands.
Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.