‘We will not abandon them’: Thousands to rally for hostages across the country
Weekly protest comes amid fear that plight of hostages will be forgotten as Israel turns attention from Gaza to fight with Hezbollah and amid deadlock in talks
Tens of thousands of Israelis were expected at weekly demonstrations across the country Saturday night to demand a deal to release the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza amid fears that their plight risks being overshadowed as Israel increasingly turns its attention from Gaza to the fight with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The main rally, held under the slogan of “We will not abandon them,” was set for Tel Aviv’s Begin Road outside of the IDF’s headquarters. Other protests will be held in dozens of cities and locations, including in Jerusalem’s Paris Square near the Prime Minister’s Residence and at the southern Shaar HaNegev Intersection.
“This Saturday marks 344 days since Hamas terrorists kidnapped over 200 hostages, with 101 still held captive. They are our brothers and sisters — we are their only hope! We won’t give up until the last hostage returns home,” The Hostage Family Forum said in a statement.
Among those set to speak in Tel Aviv, was Michal Lobanov, the widow of Alex Lobanov, one of six hostages whose murder by Hamas three weeks ago sparked public outrage at the government’s failure to reach a deal to return the captives home.
Other speakers include Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker; Anat Angrest, mother of hostage soldier Matan Angrest; and Sha’ban al-Sayed, the father of Hisham al-Sayed, who crossed into Gaza in 2015 and has been held since by Hamas.
Alongside the hostage protests, thousands are also expected to take part in anti-government demonstrations.
Anti-government protesters have rallied weekly on Kaplan Street — except for several weeks after October 7 — since early 2023, when the government announced its plan to overhaul the judiciary.
Protesters have accused police of using excessive force and randomly arresting activists at the rallies.
The protests come amid mounting pessimism that a deal can be reached for a ceasefire in Gaza that would see the hostages freed and amid fears that Israel is turning its attention away from Gaza as it shifts its military efforts to the north.
In Jerusalem on Thursday night, hardline activists calling for relentless pressure on Hamas to secure the release of all the hostages held a protest near the Knesset. The rally was organized by the Tikva Forum, which represents a minority of the families of hostages.
Demonstrators carried placards declaring, “Only pressure on Hamas will return the hostages” and “Without all of them, no deal.”
Multiple senior US officials reportedly acknowledged that a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas was unlikely before the end of US President Joe Biden’s term in office in January, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
“No deal is imminent. I’m not sure it ever gets done,” said one of the US officials, speaking to the newspaper on condition of anonymity.
The officials told the outlet that one of the biggest obstacles to a deal has been the ratio of Palestinian security prisoners Israel must release in exchange for each hostage. The US has said publicly that Hamas has raised the number of prisoners it originally asked for, even after executing six hostages earlier this month.
More broadly, WSJ reported that Hamas has made demands and then refuses to agree to a deal after Israel accepted them.
“There’s no chance now of it happening,” an official from an Arab country told the newspaper. “Everyone is in a wait-and-see mode until after the [US] election. The outcome will determine what can happen in the next administration.”
Another major obstacle to a deal, cited by US officials, is the tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.
During more than 11 months of fighting Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah has been attacking Israel on a near-daily basis, saying it is doing so in support of Hamas. This has led to constant cross-border fire, although the sides have avoided escalating to an all-out war.
However, the situation appeared to be reaching a boiling point following the back-to-back mass detonations of Hezbollah’s communication devices, which injured thousands of terror operatives in an attack blamed on Israel.
Those blasts were followed by airstrikes carried out by the IDF on Thursday against over 100 Hezbollah rocket projectile launchers in Lebanon that the army said were primed for a retaliatory strike.
And on Friday, Israel targeted a meeting of senior Hezbollah leaders, killing 15 of them, including two of their most senior commanders.
US officials from the White House, State Department and Pentagon told the Journal that the possibility of a full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah complicates diplomacy between Israel and Hamas.
Washington has long argued that the surest way to restore calm along Israel’s northern border is by securing a ceasefire in Gaza. Meanwhile, Hezbollah has asserted that it would halt its near-daily attacks against Israel if the fighting in the coastal enclave ends.
Nonetheless, Biden officials continued to stress in public and private that they will continue working to secure a deal between Israel and Hamas.
“I can tell you that we do not believe that deal is falling apart,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters on Thursday, before the Journal report was published.
But White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby acknowledged Wednesday that there has not been progress made in hostage talks, lamenting that “we aren’t any closer to [a deal] now than we were even a week ago.”
US officials have for weeks said a new proposal would be presented soon for a deal.
Months of negotiations have not succeeded in reaching an agreement for the return of the 101 hostages still believed to be held captive in Gaza, more than 11 months after Hamas attacked Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, launching the ongoing war.
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 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.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 40,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 combatants in battle and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
