Families mark 500 days since loved ones’ abduction: ‘To give up on them is to give up on us’

About 2,000 people crowd into Hostages Square in Tel Aviv to mark 500 days since October 7, 2023.

Another 1,000 or so spill out to Shaul HaMelech Street, where speeches are projected on large screens.

At 8 p.m., some of those in attendance break a 500-minute fast that the Hostages Families Forum had announced.

Varda Ben Baruch, grandmother of US-Israeli captive soldier Edan Alexandar, calls for the hostages’ release, recites a blessing and sips some water.

“I want to break the fast and break their fate,” she says.

Edan’s mother Yael speaks next.

“I am Yael Alexandar, and I haven’t breathed for 500 days,” she says. Subsequent speakers open their speeches the same way.

She calls on the government to hammer out a deal that will bring all remaining hostages home at once, rather than the current deal’s protracted releases — another common theme in the night’s speeches.

She ends with what will also emerge as a refrain: “To give up on them is to give up on us!”

In English, she adds thanks US President Donald Trump and his Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff.

“President Trump, in the last two weeks, you brought back two American citizens, Sagui Dekel-Chen and Keith Siegel,” she says. “Today, I ask you to bring my son Edan home to our family.”

Danielle Aloni, who was held captive in Gaza until she was freed as part of a brie ceasefire agreement in November 2023, and whose brother-in-law, David Cunio, and his younger brother, Ariel, remain in captivity, says her family received a sign of life from David Cunio from one of the recently returned hostages. The crowd breaks out into applause.

Addressing Netanyahu, Aloni says: “As of a few days ago, David is alive. And it’s your responsibility to bring him home. David has no more time to wait.”

Edan Alexander and David Cunio are both slated for release only in the deal’s next, second phase. The second phase would see Hamas release young men still in captivity after the the release in the current phase of 33 women, children, civilian men over 50 and those deemed “humanitarian cases.”

Netanyahu’s right-wing flank has threatened to topple the government should it proceed to the second phase, which would require Israel to withdraw from Gaza. The premier has not committed to the second phase.

Yeela David, whose brother Evyatar David is slated for release only in the second phase, says it is “the last chance to save to save dozens of men left behind in the current phase of the deal.”

“The young men who were left behind did not undergo any special training to handle this situation. They’re just like anyone else,” she says. “If the deal falls apart and there is no second phase, it will be a stain on our history books.”