In Tel Aviv, hostage relatives tell negotiators not to come back without a deal
Thousands hold ‘Last Chance March’ through city, with some accusing Netanyahu and his coalition allies of ‘sabotaging’ talks being held in Doha
Relatives of hostages held in Gaza and hundreds of their supporters rallied Thursday to push Israel’s leadership toward an agreement that will free the captives, as a new round of high-stakes talks aimed at reaching a deal kicked off in Qatar with a reportedly “promising start.”
Taking to the streets of Tel Aviv for a procession dubbed the “Last Chance March,” protesters demanded that negotiators dispatched to Doha keep going until a deal is sealed, arguing that time is running out for the more than 100 hostages still held in Gaza since being abducted during the October 7 massacre.
“To the negotiating team — if a deal is not signed today or in the coming days at this summit, do not return to Israel. You have no reason to return to Israel without a deal,” said Yotam Cohen, whose brother Nimrod Cohen is a hostage in Gaza.
The march came as the Hamas terror group released an image showing the body of former captive Ofir Tzarfati and saying he had been killed by his guard, underlining what families and experts say are grave threats facing the remaining hostages, several of whom have been confirmed killed. Tzarfati’s body was recovered by IDF troops in late November and brought back to Israel.
“I choose not to look at the image Hamas published,” Tzarfati’s mother Rachel said in a statement released by The Hostage and Missing Families Forum. “What’s important today is for the developing deal to be implemented successfully.”
Families have campaigned for months for a deal, exacerbating tensions between them and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom some accuse of seeking to prolong the war for political gain.
In Tel Aviv, Danny Elgarat, whose brother Itzik Elgarat was kidnapped from Nir Oz, said those drawing out the talks unnecessarily would be responsible if his brother dies, pointing a finger at Netanyahu’s far-right coalition allies, who have threatened to bring down the government if a hostage release deal is reached that includes a halt in fighting or troop withdrawal.
“We hear of far-right ministers threatening and sabotaging chances to reach a deal. They prefer territory over lives, and don’t understand that the hostages are a testament to the largest ever security, social, moral and religious failure in Israel’s history,” he said.
Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose son Hersh is held captive, also lashed out at those blocking a deal.
“Shlomo Mansour, who is 86, doesn’t need to keep paying the price,” she told the Walla news site, referring to the Kissufim octogenarian kidnapped on October 7 and held since. “And if someone feels strongly that an 86-year-old grandfather should continue paying the price, they can put their 86-year-old grandfather in there and bring Shlomo out. It’s time.”
Israeli media this week quoted Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as privately telling a parliamentary committee that a hostage release deal “is stalling… in part because of Israel.”
Netanyahu’s office accused Gallant of adopting an “anti-Israel narrative” and said Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is “the only obstacle to a hostage deal.”
It is believed that 111 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 39 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Seven hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 24 hostages have also been recovered, including three abductees 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.
Also Thursday, former war cabinet minister Benny Gantz issued a video statement urging Netanyahu to reach a deal as quickly as possible to bring home the hostages and let the tens of thousands of northern evacuees return to their homes, accusing the premier of dilly-dallying due to political considerations.
“At first, you hesitated on maneuvering [in southern Gaza], then you hesitated on moving the effort to the north, and for months you hesitated to move forward with a hostage outline out of fear for the fate of the coalition,” Gantz claimed while touring the northern kibbutz of Ayelet Hashahar.
“It is time for you to stop tending to the fate of the government, and to tend only to the fate of the country,” he added. “For once, be brave.”
In response, Netanyahu’s Likud party contended that “the protocols will prove that Gantz is the one who opposed decisions that were critical for the security of Israel, including decisions regarding dramatic military actions” while Gantz was in the decision-making war cabinet before leaving the wartime government in June.
Likud claimed that the recent assassinations of several terror chiefs were a testimony to the “change of reality” following Gantz’s departure, concluding that “those not contributing to the struggle for victory and the return of the hostages would do better if they at least didn’t do damage.”
National Unity fired back, saying, “Netanyahu knows well why he is trying to alter protocols and refusing to form a state commission of inquiry that will expose the truth: Who was afraid to launch a ground maneuver, who delayed the entry to Khan Younis, and who didn’t want at first to enter the Philadelphi Corridor.”
Agencies contributed to this report.
