From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, August 26, 2025
‘The people of Israel want an end to this nightmare’: Families of Gaza captives speak at Hostages Square
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Relatives of the hostages gather in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv to deliver a statement to the press at the start of a nationwide day of protests for the release of their loved ones.
Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, charges that after 690 days of war “without a clear goal,” it has become obvious that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “afraid of one thing — public pressure.”
His government, she says, “attacked captivity survivors and the families of the hostages — all in an attempt to silence them.”
“We have a wonderful nation but there is no government,” she says, calling for the public to join the protests today. “Only with our strength can we bring about a comprehensive agreement and an end to the war. The government abandoned them but the nation will bring them back!”
Itzik Horn, the father of hostage Eitan Horn and released captive Iair Horn, accuses the government of “another deliberate torpedo operation of an agreement to return hostages.”
The accusation comes after Hamas said last week that it had agreed to a hostage deal that would see half of the hostages released while talks kicked off to end the war and free the rest. Netanyahu has said, however, that Israel will only agree to a deal that sees all the hostages released at once, and has moved to approve plans for an offensive aimed at conquering Gaza City.
This government is one that “abandons its citizens…and collapses the basic moral framework of sanctity of life and mutual responsibility,” Horn says.
“The progress of a plan to occupy Gaza while there is a [hostage] deal on the table for the prime minister to sign is a stab to the heart of the families and the entire nation,” he says.
Yehuda Cohen, the father of hostage soldier Nimrod Cohen, refers to a previously unseen video of his son’s abduction from a tank on the Gaza border on October 7, which his family published yesterday.
“Israel is standing up, the people of Israel are standing up for the hostages, the people of Israel are with us and the polls show it too,” he says. “More than 80 percent want an end to the war and a hostage deal. The entire people of Israel want an end to this nightmare.”
“My son Nimrod was kidnapped from his malfunctioning tank. The videos we showed yesterday show the level of neglect from the Israeli government and the IDF.”
“Today, on the 690th day, we demand that the Israeli government make a deal and release all the hostages,” he says. “You owe it to them.”
The Times of Israel Community.