Scaled-down rallies for hostage deal held nationwide, a year into loved ones’ captivity
Weekly rally in Tel Aviv, which has previously drawn hundreds of thousands, is capped at 2,000 by Home Front Command, amid ground op in Lebanon and brewing response to Iran attack
Thousands of Israelis took to the streets once again on Saturday night, calling for a deal to secure the release of those held captive by Hamas in Gaza — though in much smaller numbers this week, to follow Home Front Command instructions limiting gatherings in light of changing wartime conditions.
Some 2,000 protesters gathered in front of Begin Gate at the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, preceded by a weekly press conference by some hostages’ family members, who directed their ire at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and accused him of repeatedly “torpedoing” viable hostage deals over the course of the year. The premier has fiercely maintained that he is committed to releasing the hostages, blaming Hamas for rejecting repeated proposals.
Saturday marked 365 days of the hostages’ captivity, which began when thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023, starting the ongoing war.
“As long as Netanyahu is in power, we will also mark three years of their captivity, if any of them last that long,” charged Omri Lifschitz, whose father Oded, 84, is held hostage in Gaza, referring to the length of time before the next elections are scheduled to be held.
Danny Elgarat, whose brother Itzik, 70, is hostage in Gaza, said: “This was a full year in which those kidnapped became hostages of the war for Netanyahu’s personal survival. A full year, in which Netanyahu torpedoed deals that were on the table.
“A full year in which 101 citizens were abandoned by him, and are still held in the tunnels of death, and Netanyahu not only doesn’t take responsibility, he chooses deliberately to abandon them, and to try to make us forget them,” Elgarat continued.
Lifschitz accused Netanyahu of “criminal moves” to sabotage hostage deals, including what he called his “lying spin” about the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, where he has insisted on maintaining a military presence, even at the cost of a deal.
The prime minister’s reasoning about the corridor “has been refuted over and over again by members of the security establishment,” Lifschitz claimed.
Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan, 25, is held hostage, noted: “This is day 365 in which our loved ones are in captivity, in hell, in Gaza.” She added: “Why are they still there? Because of Netanyahu!”
The prime minister “decided to sacrifice the lives of the hostages to preserve his power,” continued Zangauker, who has been one of the most prominent faces among those calling for a hostage deal.
The protest was a greatly reduced version of the weekly demonstration in Tel Aviv, which has drawn hundreds of thousands in recent weeks, alongside smaller, parallel demonstrations across the country.
This week, the main demonstration was canceled in light of Home Front Command instructions limiting gatherings to 2,000 people in the Tel Aviv area, as well as in the north, parts of the West Bank, and some Gaza border communities.
The limits have been imposed amid intensified fighting with the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon, including a limited ground operation in southern Lebanon that began on Monday.
They also came in light of Tuesday’s attack by Iran, when the Islamic Republic fired some 181 ballistic missiles at Israel. The government has said Israel will respond to the Iranian attack, but has not said when or how.
Some hostage families expressed dismay when the Israel Defense Forces sent ground troops into southern Lebanon last week, noting that it probably made the prospect of a hostage deal with Hamas even more remote, at least in the near term.
On Saturday, Zangauker responded to reports that the government has told some hostage families that after the intensified fighting in Lebanon concludes, there will be an opportunity for an agreement to secure the release of the hostages.
“We don’t believe this government,” she said, “It’s been a year since the failure [on October 7], and today it’s clear that Netanyahu doesn’t want to return the hostages. Even if the war in the north ends, Netanyahu wants the war in the south to continue.”
Ayala Metzger, whose father-in-law Yoram, 80, was murdered in Hamas captivity, echoed Zangauker’s comments, saying: “We see what’s happening in these last few weeks since the fighting in the north intensified.
“How many cabinet meetings have they held in the last few weeks about the hostages? How many more proposals have they passed on to the intermediaries [in the negotiations with Hamas]?” she continued.
Hours later, protesters marched from Begin Gate, and blocked the Ayalon Highway, lighting a small bonfire in the street.
Protests were also held in other cities across Israel, including Jerusalem, Haifa, Caesarea, Kiryat Gat, Beersheba, Rehovot, Ness Ziona, Rishon Lezion, Kfar Saba, Hadera, Ra’anana, Hod Hasharon and Eilat.
In Jerusalem, protesters marched from Zion Square to Paris Square, behind a banner depicting slain hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, an American-Israeli who was abducted from the Supernova music festival and survived some eleven months in captivity until he and five others were executed by his captors when the IDF closed in on the area in which they were being held, in a tunnel beneath the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
“May his memory be a deal,” read the banner, a reference to both the traditional Hebrew phrase used when someone has died, “May his memory be a blessing,” and the declaration by Goldberg-Polin’s father that his son’s memory should be “a revolution.”
Another banner carried by protesters in Jerusalem read, “There is no atonement for a year of abandonment,” using language evocative of the ongoing High Holidays, including the upcoming Yom Kippur.
In Caesarea, protesters also demonstrated near one of Netanyahu’s private residences, as they have each week for months. A delegation of combat veterans from the Yom Kippur War marched under a banner reading: “You’re the leader — you’re guilty.”
Dan Halutz, a former IDF chief of staff who was forcibly removed from a similar protest two weeks ago, addressed the crowd, wearing a shirt that read “Elections now.” Former IDF chief of staff Moshe Ya’alon participated, and the two joined protesters in blocking a road.
In video of the protest posted to social media, one of its leaders could be heard noting that the body of Eden Yerushalmi, 24, who was murdered alongside Goldberg-Polin and four other captives at the end of August, weighed just 36 kilograms (79 pounds) when she and the other slain hostages were found days after their execution.
קיסריה המפגינים וביניהם דן חלוץ, בוגי, יעלון עמירם לוין ואמיר השכל מתארגנים לישיבה ממושכת בכניסה לישוב pic.twitter.com/dQHxud4nPk
— ????️????????Bar????????????️ בחירות עכשיו (@barakdor) October 5, 2024
A weekly protest was held in Kiryat Gat, including by residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz, a community devastated by the October 7 attack, whose residents were evacuated there.
In Beersheba, protesters blocked a main junction on the city’s Rager Boulevard.
It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
