Thousands join funeral march for killed hostage Hanan Yablonka as family calls for return of all those still captive
Tal Schneider is a Political Correspondent at The Times of Israel

Thousands of people join a funeral procession to the cemetery where Hanan Yablonka, 42, will be buried after the IDF recovered his body from Gaza on Friday.
Yablonka was murdered on October 7 and his body was abducted to Gaza.
Yablonka’s family asked the Israeli public to turn the funeral procession into a march in a solemn call for the government to make a deal for the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
In interviews with Hebrew media outlets, Yablonka’s parents, Reuven and Vered, and his sisters Orit and Avivit, stressed that they wanted to hold a nonpolitical march that called for putting the lives of the hostages above all other goals of the war in Gaza.
Participants brought Israeli flags to the march and wore shirts with slogans calling for the Israeli government to do more for the release of the hostages.
Quiet applause was heard as the car transporting Yablonka’s body to its final resting place passed through the crowd, with participants showing respect for teh family and their decision to dedicate his final journey to those who are still alive and can still be rescued.
The Yablonka family led the one-mile walk, through the streets of north Tel Aviv and Ramat Hasharon, starting at the family home and ending at the Kiryat Shaul cemetery.
Among those participating in the march were family members of hostages still held in Gaza.
Eyal, who lives in the area that the procession passed through, tells The Times of Israel that while he did not know Hanan Yablonka, he felt the urge to support the family during this time, and to support the cause of bringing the hostages home as soon as possible.
“Showing up here and supporting the families is the least that we could do,” he says.
Yablonka was divorced and leaves behind two children, ages 12 and 9.