Thousands rally for hostages as Hamas warns it won’t move them to safety when IDF advances
Ex-captives Omer Wenkert, Gadi Mozes and Liri Albag to speak at Hostages Square rally highlighting freedom message of upcoming Passover festival
Tens of thousands of people were expected to attend weekly rallies on Saturday night calling for a deal to free the hostages held by Hamas, a day after the terror group warned that it will not move captives out of a Gaza area of Gaza that the military called to evacuate ahead of an expected advance.
The demonstrations were to highlight the freedom message of the upcoming Passover festival that starts next Saturday evening.
This week’s rally at Hostages Square comes as family members have repeatedly expressed concern for the fate of the hostages since Israel resumed hostilities in Gaza last month, ending the ceasefire and hostage release deal that Israel reached with Hamas in January.
These fears were heightened on Friday when the Hamas terror group said in a statement that it would not move living Israeli hostages out of areas in the Gaza Strip that the Israel Defense Forces has ordered to be evacuated in recent days. Hamas said the Israeli government would be at fault if captives were killed.
The IDF has issued evacuation orders for the entire Rafah area, Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood, and other areas in the Strip’s north. The statement also said that Hamas was keeping the hostages “under strict security measures, which are extremely dangerous to their lives.”
Hamas has previously said it would execute hostages if Israeli troops are seen approaching areas where they are being held. In August, Hamas murdered six hostages in Rafah as Israeli forces were operating nearby.
Former hostages Liri Albag, Omer Wenkert and Gadi Mozes are set to address Saturday’s rally.
In a press release on the Hostages Square rally, the Hostages Families Forum highlighted that the weeklong festival of freedom will take place while 59 captives remain in Gaza, 24 of whom are still believed to be alive.
“Everyone can and must be returned in a deal — now,” said the Forum. “History will remember who knew and stayed silent, and who got up and acted.”
Saturday’s rally comes after a senior Israeli official told reporters on Friday that Israel would not agree to end the war in Gaza in exchange for the hostages because Hamas is demanding guarantees that would bar Israel from resuming operations in the Strip again.
Besides Wenkert, Mozes and Albag — all of whom were released as part of the most recent ceasefire deal — the Hostages Square rally was set to feature speeches by Herut Nimrodi, mother of captive soldier Tamir Nimrodi; Amit Ben-Dor Gus, a friend of US-Israeli captive soldier Edan Alexander; Dani Miran, father of hostage Omri Miran; and Zamir Haimi, uncle of Tal Haimi, whose body was snatched to Gaza after he was killed defending Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak during the Hamas onslaught.
Dozens of smaller hostage rallies are set to take place across the country, including in Kiryat Gat, Jersualem and the Sha’ar HaNegev Junction in the south.
The Hostages Square rally will take place in tandem with an anti-government hostage families’ protest a block away, in front of the Begin Road entrance to the IDF headquarters. The protest is expected to be bolstered by participants coming from an earlier anti-government demonstration at Habima Square, featuring speeches from Yesh Atid lawmaker Yoav Segalovitz and Tzipi Livni, a former justice and foreign minister.
Protesters at Habima Square typically assail Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his bid to weaken the judiciary, fire the Shin Bet chief and codify a blanket exemption from military service for the ultra-Orthodox community, whose political representatives are a key part of Netanyahu’s coalition.
Alleged criminal ties between Hamas-backer Qatar and top aides to Netanyahu have also featured prominently in the Habima protests. On Monday, the premier testified in the case, which is being investigated by the police’s Lahav 433 serious crimes unit.
Netanyahu’s aides have denied wrongdoing, and he has slammed the probe as a witch hunt.
The Times of Israel Community.