Hostages Family Forum cancels events, protests amid new IDF restrictions
Home Front Command restricts gatherings to 30 people outside, 300 inside for northern, central Israel after Hezbollah fires rocket at country’s center
The Hostages Families Forum canceled two events it had planned for Tuesday evening in Tel Aviv and Nahal Oz as well as the regular Saturday night protests in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem this week after the IDF Home Front Command released new restrictions for civilians in northern and central Israel.
Tuesday’s events, an evening of singing at Hostages Square dedicated to the return of Hamas hostages still held captive in Gaza and a Rosh Hashanah event organized by the Nahal Oz community, were both canceled in compliance with the restrictions.
But while the Saturday night protests in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were also canceled, the Forum said protests would continue as planned in Karmei Gat and the “Arches Junction” in Sha’ar HaNegev, both of which were not included in the new restrictions.
“We hope for quieter days and the speedy return of all 101 hostages, the living ones to rehabilitation and the dead to suitable burial in their country,” the Forum said.
The Home Front Command issued new restrictions on Tuesday on civilians in northern and central Israel, including Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, the Sharon region, the Carmel area, Wadi Ara, and the northern West Bank, after Hezbollah fired rockets at the center of the country earlier that morning, and ahead of the upcoming Jewish New Year holiday that begins on Wednesday night.
It also comes amid warnings that Iran was planning to launch a missile strike on Israel.
Educational activities and workplaces were permitted to be open only if they had adequate shelter nearby that could be reached in time, according to an IDF statement.
There were also restrictions on gatherings: up to 30 people outdoors and 300 people indoors.
Beaches were to be closed, the IDF said, amid the escalation in fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The new guidelines were valid until Saturday, after the New Year holiday.
Channel 12 News also reported that there were no changes to instructions at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport and that Israel’s airspace was open without restrictions.
It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 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.
Meanwhile, the new IDF restrictions come amid a significant escalation between Israel and Hezbollah up north with Israel launching a ground operation in southern Lebanon on Monday night.
The operation comes after two weeks of targeted strikes by the IDF on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in which the vast majority of the terrorist organization’s top leadership was killed including the group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.
So far, the skirmishes have resulted in 26 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 22 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
Hezbollah has named 516 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. Another 92 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have also been killed.
The terror group largely stopped announcing casualty figures after Israel stepped up strikes against the group and its top leadership in recent weeks. Lebanon’s health ministry says more than 1,000 people have been killed, but it does not differentiate between Hezbollah members and civilians.
