Hostage deal activists hold demonstrations in IKEA stores across country

Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter

Hostage release activists swamp three IKEA branches with pictures of those held by the Hamas terror group in Gaza.

The pop-up campaign, organized without the prior knowledge of the furniture and home design giant, seeks to remind shoppers that those kidnapped from the Gaza border area on October 7 are still enduring hell in the coastal enclave.

The move takes place in branches in Netanya and Beit Shemesh in central Israel, and Beersheba in the south.

In the Netanya store alone, 250 placards were distributed.

Each is accompanied by a personal, handwritten message.

One activist tells the Times of Israel that a group of citizens came together, independently of hostage families, to show that “we’re all part of the fight.”

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 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.

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