Hostage families urge deal that will return all the captives, end war in Gaza

Relatives of hostages held in Gaza deliver weekly remarks to the press outside IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, amid a push to reach a ceasefire deal for the release as a new US administration is set to take office.

“It’s clear to us at this very moment that those unwilling to end the war will try to thwart the deal. Netanyahu said the time is ripe to release everyone, but he’s refusing to do the only thing to bring them back and that’s ending the war,” says Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan was taken captive during the Hamas-led October 2023 attack that started the ongoing war.

She adds: “Imagine the moment when the end of the war and the return of all the hostages is declared. Imagine the happiness among the nation, the joy in the streets, the citizens celebrating the sanctity of life and mutual responsibility.”

Ayala Metzger, the daughter-in-law of slain hostage Yoram Metzger, urges a deal that will free the hostages and end the war.

“Instead of the hostages returning alive, we are receiving the captives in body bags. Only in Israel is total failure sold as ‘a heroic operation,'” Metzger says. “We don’t want you to send more soldiers who lose their lives while extracting bodies. We don’t want more soldiers to fall in a pointless war.”

“How much more blood must be spilled for Netanyahu’s personal interests, for messianic delusions at the expense of the the hostages and soldiers?”