Hostage deal activists set up protest camp outside IDF headquarters

Anti-government, pro-hostage deal protesters set up camp to spend the night outside the IDF’s Kirya headquarters in Tel Aviv, as part of what some hostages’ families call “Operation Kirya Cordon.”

The largest encampment is outside the base’s main eastern entrance, on Begin Road. Smaller encampments are set up outside two entrances on Kaplan Street, on the base’s south side, and outside an entrance on Shaul Hamelech Street, on the north side, just across from Hostages Square.

The weekly Begin Road protest, which usually disperses at about 10 p.m., is still going strong, with protesters gathered around a bonfire on the road chanting: “The cabinet’s responsible for the life of the hostages.”

Earlier, the protesters were addressed by Jimmy Miller, cousin of slain hostage Shiri Silberman Bibas, and Jon Polin, father of slain hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin.

Silberman Bibas’s body was returned to Israel last month along with those of her young sons Ariel, 4, and Kfir, nine months, as part of the ceasefire deal with Hamas. Her husband, and the boys’ father, Yarden Bibas, was returned to Israel alive on February 1.

Speaking through a megaphone to dozens of supporters, Miller says Yarden’s wish and only comfort is that “hostages will keep coming back alive.”

Addressing the government, Miller says: “It’s the very least you can do for us.”

Throughout the war, Miller has been an energetic fixture of hostage rallies, instantly recognizable by his orange shirt and hat — a tribute to the redheaded Ariel and Kfir. Tonight, Miller is subdued and wears black.

Polin speaks after Miller. His shirt is red — the color of Hersh’s favorite sports team, Hapoel Jerusalem — and is emblazoned with Hersh’s face and the slogan: “May his memory be a revolution.”

Polin recites a prayer asking God to give Israel’s leaders “the commitment and determination to complete the deal, even at the price of ending the war.”