Former captive: ‘We have no privilege to tarry on hostage deal’

Captivity survivor Almog Meir Jan told a crowd of hundreds earlier at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square rally that for “246 days every basic human right was taken from me.”

“For eight months I was in Gaza, in captivity, bound and broken, physically and mentally,” he said. “Eight months in which I struggled to retain my spirit and hope, which wasn’t quenched even in the hardest moments.”

Meir Jan said he will “never forget the hand that saved my life” in June when Israeli security forces rescued him and three other hostages from Gaza.

“The hand stretched out to hostages and their families is a deal that must be signed,” he said. “A deal to save their lives, a deal to save all our lives.”

Addressing the hostages, Meir Jan said he was “sorry because I know you are the ones putting in ‘the work.'”

“I really ask and wonder, what is our leadership doing?” he continued. “Are you, the leaders of our country, putting in ‘the work’ that you as elected officials are required to?”

“A deal to release them is on the table, and we don’t have the privilege to tarry,” he said.

אלמוג מאיר ג'אן נאם לראשונה בעצרת משפחות החטופים: "הסרטון של לירי הזכיר לי את היום שבו צילמו אותי, סיטואציה מפחידה ומלחיצה"@YoavBorowitz pic.twitter.com/MJ1Onp1Q6z

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) January 4, 2025