Activists rally for hostages outside PM’s residence in Jerusalem

In Jerusalem, protesters calling for the release of Hamas-held hostages in Gaza are gathered outside the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem to mark the 155th day of the hostages’ captivity.

A day after International Women’s Day, most speakers are focusing on the 19 female hostages that remain in Hamas captivity, criticizing both Netanyahu’s government and international organizations for ignoring the hostage families’ plight.

Gail Shoresh, a former senior Mossad official, stands beneath a banner with the names and faces of the 19 women hostages remaining in Gaza and derides what she dubs “the silence of international women’s and human rights organizations” which “resounds to this day.”

She urges female leaders and decision-makers around the world to “denounce Hamas’s masculine sexual terrorism” and to use “political, economic and legal pressure to bring all hostages home and all terrorists to justice.”

Protest organizers list the remaining hostages in Gaza as the crowd chants after each name: “Back home, now!”