Hostage families march with stretchers to honor captives on third day of trek to Jerusalem

The families of hostages gather in the center of Beit Shemesh ahead of the third day of their march to Jerusalem which began Wednesday in Kibbutz Re’im on the Gaza border. Today’s portion of the trek will start with a “stretcher march,” in which the participants will depart Beit Shemesh with 134 stretchers between them, one for each hostage still in captivity.

The stretcher march will be led by the families of captive soldiers, and war cabinet minister Benny Gantz and MK Hili Tropper will join them for the first portion of the day, carrying the stretchers as a show of solidarity.

The families are also joined by former paratroopers who fought alongside hostage Chaim Peri, a 79-year-old from Kibbutz Nir Oz, in the Six Day War and Yom Kippur War.

After leaving Beit Shemesh, the march will proceed to Sha’ar HaGai where a solidarity ceremony with the soldiers will be held at 1 p.m.