Rallies and sit-ins planned over weekend to support family of last hostage

With the body of one hostage, Ran Gvili, remaining in Gaza, more than a dozen events are planned for this weekend in support of his family.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has held rallies for the hostages on most Saturday nights for the last two years. With the burial of Dror Or and the return of Sundthisak Rinthalak’s body on Wednesday, the Gvili family decided it was time to halt the main rally and create other gatherings.

A rally in support of the Gvili family will be held at the entrance to Meitar, the southern community where the Gvili family lives, on Saturday night.

There will also be a rally in Shaar Hanegev, while the Nir Oz community will gather in Carmei Gat on Saturday night, with former hostages and hostages’ families participating.

Around the country, communities are gathering on Friday and Saturday night, including in Eilat, in the Upper Galilee, Zichron Yaakov, and more.

Sit-ins and flag marches will be held around the country on Friday and Saturday, and Shabbat services will be held in Hostages Square and in the town of Yavne on Friday afternoon.

In Jerusalem, where the official Hostages’ Forum tent was dismantled last week, the Safeguarding our Shared Home protest group that helped organize the hostages’ rallies is returning to a Saturday night march called “Jerusalem in the Streets for Israel,” from Aza Road to the President’s Residence, the site of the protests held against the judicial overhaul prior to October 7, 2023.