‘The State of Israel has to save them’: Thousands rally outside PM’s office for hostage deal

Thousands of protesters are rallying outside the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, demanding an immediate hostage deal.

Speaking from the main stage in front of the government building, released hostage Nili Margalit speaks to the rallygoers.

Kibbutz Nir Oz resident Margalit was released in November 2023, after 54 days in captivity, during a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas.

During their brutal October 7 attack on Nir Oz, Hamas terrorists murdered Margalit’s father, Eliyahu, and kidnapped his body to Gaza.

A nurse by trade, Margalit recalls helping treat elderly kibbutz members held with her in Gaza.

She adds that soon after she was released from Hamas captivity, Israel returned to fighting “very much like now” and many hostages who were members of the kibbutz were since killed in the Strip.

“It was possible to save them,” she says. “I want to shout from here, ‘enough!’ They need to get out, and they have no way to do it alone… the State of Israel has to save them.”

She appeals to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling a hostage deal “the most important job, more than any budget or law.”