Hundreds rally outside PM’s residence in Jerusalem to advocate for hostage agreement

Hundreds of protesters calling on the government to negotiate a hostage deal are gathered at Jerusalem’s Paris Square, outside the Prime Minister’s Residence.

Tom Barkai, an organizer with the Jerusalem branch of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, asks from onstage if anyone in the crowd plans to celebrate Passover, which begins this Monday night.

“Does it even cross your minds how the families of hostages are going to deal with this holiday?” she asks Israel’s politicians. “Instead of sitting at the Seder table, you should be sitting at the negotiating table.”

She holds up her left hand as she speaks, the date 7/10 is written on her palm.

The crowd is crying “shame” toward the Israeli government as Shlomo Alfasa-Goren, a relative of Nir Oz resident Maya Goren who was kidnapped and later murdered by Hamas, speaks to the crowd.

“You abandoned [us], and you need to pay,” Alfasa-Goren tells the government. “Reach an agreement, despite the difficult prices.”

Further down the street, near Netanyahu’s private home, a smaller group is protesting against the government.