Hostages’ relatives vow to build back better, laud Trump’s ‘leadership with bravery’

Ruby Chen, whose soldier son Itay Chen’s body is slated for return in the Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal, says while he is “happy for the hostage families who will hug their loved ones,” he also has “a feeling as though a 20-ton hammer suddenly fell on you, coming to terms with the reality of the loss of a son.”

“That’s the feeling that I and 27 other families of slain [hostages] share with almost 2,000 heroic families who didn’t want to be heroes, whose sacrifice of their loved ones lets an entire nation celebrate today,” he says at Hostages Square, referring to the families of fallen soldiers.

“This time, we won’t let the war end like Protective Edge, when the government of Israel decided it was unnecessary to fight for the slain abducted soldiers who were left behind,” says Chen, referring to the 2014 Gaza war, which ended with the remains of two Israeli soldiers still in Gaza.

The body of one of the slain soldiers, Oron Shaul, was retrieved by Israel earlier this year, while the other, Hadar Goldin, is slated for return in the current deal.

“The quiet that was bought through the non-return of Hadar and Oron led to October 7, and that must not happen again,” he says. “So please… I want to hear you and be sure of your answer — do you promise to fight with me until the last hostage?”

“Yes!” roars the crowd, which is still riled up from the speeches of US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, and of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and his wife Ivanka Trump.

“They say success has many fathers while failure is an orphan,” says Itzik Horn, whose son Eitan Horn is also slated to return after his other son Iair, was released in February as part of the last deal

“We’ll find the people responsible for the failure, but what’s certain is that this success has one father — President Trump.”

“I wish we will also have the privilege of leadership with bravery,” he says.

“This is not a happy occasion,” he says. “This is the end of the worst day in the history of the country — Israeli citizens are returning to their land after being abandoned.”

“We’ll pray and promise — never again,” he says. “No more denigration of human life. No more abandonment.”

“The most important thing is that this will not end until the very last of the hostages comes home,” he says.

The square was jam-packed tonight, with far more children in attendance than usual. On the adjacent Shaul HaMelech Street, police moved traffic-blocking trucks farther up the road to clear more space for the crowd overflowing from the square.

There is an air of finality to the whole affair.

As the rally kicks off, an MC leads the regular chants — “the image of victory is the last hostage,” “until they’re back we’re all hostages” and a now past-tense “only the people brought back the hostages” — before thanking the crowd: “Thank you for being with us the entire time.”

The crowd, applauding what it hopes is its last time here, is dotted with Israeli flags, yellow flags signifying the hostages’ cause, and US flags and other tributes to Trump for helping secure the deal.