Hostage families meeting to consider stepped-up protests, demand new deal

Families of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza are meeting to discuss stepping up protests against the government in a bid to set up renewed talks that could lead to a further release of captives.

The meeting comes after the IDF said yesterday that three hostages were mistakenly killed by the army in Gaza and after soldiers retrieved the bodies of three other hostages.

“We are playing Russian roulette,” Ruby Chen, whose son Itay is being held hostage, tells reporters in Tel Aviv outside the Defense Ministry.

“We can’t go on like this any longer. Each day we don’t know when we will be the one to get a knock on the door,” he says.

Raz Matalon, whose two relatives Yossi and Eli Sahrabi are hostages, calls on the government to present fresh proposals for a deal with Hamas.

“They have to put forward an Israeli proposal. I’m looking at the leaders in the eyes, this is on you, stop it. Give us a proposal now.”