‘You brought me home’: Ex-hostages thank protesters for their return, call for last 3 captives’ release

One month after their release, several former hostages addressed Saturday night’s rallies for the captives held in Gaza, crediting the demonstrators for their return, and calling for the protests to continue until the bodies of the final three deceased hostages held in Gaza are brought back.

“Two years I’ve dreamed of this moment,” freed hostage Maxim Herkin told the crowd of thousands at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, adding that he was “speaking from the heart” and had not prepared remarks. “You brought me home.”

Herkin was one of the final 20 living hostages who were released on October 13 as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal. The deal called for Hamas to release all remaining hostages, living and dead. As of Saturday night, the bodies of Dror Or, Master Sgt. Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak were still held in Gaza.

Saturday night’s rallies across the country called for the return of the three captives’ bodies. They also demanded the formation of a state commission of inquiry into the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in which terrorists killed some 1,200 and kidnapped 251 people.

Guy Gilboa-Dalal, who was also released on October 13, told the crowd at Hostages Square that footage he saw in captivity of protests in Israel, before he was taken down into Hamas’s tunnel complex, gave him hope throughout “two years of darkness.”

“You gave me hope and strength,” he said. “The people of Israel, who don’t forget about their brothers.”

Gilboa-Dalal also thanked IDF troops and paid tribute to two of his friends, Idan Haramati and Ron Tzarfati, who were murdered at the Nova music festival. He and dozens of others were abducted from the festival during the Hamas onslaught.

Only on the day of his release did Gilboa-Dalal learn of Tzarfati and Haramati’s fate, he said, adding, “They’ll forever be in my heart.”

He also vowed not to forget the remaining three hostages in Gaza. “Their families and the entire nation of Israel are waiting for them,” he said. “The deed is not done until everyone is back, down to the last hostage.”

At a separate rally at Sha’ar HaNegev Junction, near the Gaza border, Gali and Ziv Berman, brothers who were both held hostage and released last month, said they have a duty to campaign for the release of the remaining deceased hostages held in the Strip.

The brothers thanked hostages’ families and their supporters for holding the weekly demonstrations for their release, also crediting their freedom to the campaign.

“The road to rehabilitation is still long, but the fact of our presence here, in front of you, is proof of the power that we have as a nation and as a council,” they said in their remarks. The brothers were kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, which is under the jurisdiction of the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council.

“And now, after we have returned, we understand our duty that was born within us: to continue to be the voice of those who have not yet had the opportunity to return,” they said.

At Hostages Square, the father of Itay Chen, an American-Israeli soldier who was killed on October 7 and whose body was held in Gaza until earlier this month, told the thousands-strong crowd that the return of the last three deceased captives is a critical test for Israel as a country.

“We understand just how much bringing back Itay was lifesaving — it saved my family’s life,” Ruby Chen said. “In that same way, we need to save the lives” of the families of the remaining hostages.

So far, along with the 20 surviving captives, the terror group has returned 25 out of 28 deceased hostages. It has cited difficulty in finding and accessing the remaining bodies, claims Israel has questioned.

Calls continue for a state commission of inquiry

Speakers also called for the formation of a state commission of inquiry to investigate the causes and events of the October 7 attack. Chen said a commission, a longstanding demand of the hostages’ families, will allow for true national recovery.

“Those who don’t want a state commission of inquiry, I warn you: history will judge you harshly. Your name will bear the mark of Cain for generations to come after the public kicks you out,” he said.

“Something different can and must be built here, and I’ll be here to make sure that happens, so that the sacrifice of my son and the other heroes will not have been in vain,” said Chen, calling the attack and subsequent war “an inflection point in the history of the State of Israel” that will determine its values moving forward.

“The question is: Will we be able to adopt the values of mutual accountability and helping each other, or will we let our elected officials go back to focusing on the three P’s — power, profits, and prestige — at our expense?” he said.

Also in Tel Aviv, anti-government protesters marched from Begin Gate, outside the Defense Ministry headquarters, to a rally at Tel Aviv’s Habima Square.

About 2,000 people gathered at that plaza for a demonstration organized by the October Council of families of victims of the October 7 onslaught, who are likewise demanding a state commission of inquiry.

The Hamas onslaught was “not just an attack, it was a Holocaust in the heart of the country,” said Rafi Ben Shitrit, whose son Elroi was killed in the onslaught, to the crowd. “Out of the ashes, we must rise up and demand the one thing we thought was self-evident: a deep, thorough investigation of the procedures, of the debacle.”

Despite polls consistently showing a majority of Israelis want a state commission of inquiry to be established, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition have resisted attempts to establish one. Netanyahu reiterated on Monday his opposition to such a committee. Members of his cabinet have opposed one because it would be formed by the judiciary, which they claim would make it biased against them.

Disparate anti-government causes were represented in the crowd, including protesters demanding the military conscription of Haredi men, activists decrying the government’s judicial overhaul, and left-wing demonstrators waving signs with condemnatory slogans about “occupation” and “settler violence.”

Eyal Eshel, whose daughter Roni was killed during the October 7 onslaught at the Nahal Oz base where she served as a surveillance soldier, said the shock assault should have been followed by a wave of resignations in the government.

“Instead, we got a theater of shame,” he said. “The State of Israel is conducting itself like the most pathetic and degraded circus.”

“As the father of Roni Eshel, a heroic surveillance soldier from the Nahal Oz base who stood her ground and warned of the approaching enemy, and who persisted in her mission until she fell in defense of the homeland — I’ve been getting up every morning for two years, with the hand that searches for her and shatters in the face of reality,” he said. “Two years that my girl is gone, but everyone who was responsible for protecting her is still there — on the job, in their seat, in front of the cameras, and especially, in the headlines.”

Referring to Netanyahu, he said, “The one who abandoned Roni won’t escape responsibility, won’t hide behind flags. We won’t let him. This person will not rewrite history.”

His speech was interrupted by chants of “Seventh of October — the Netanyahu massacre.”

Speaking later in the protest, former Deputy Chief Justice Elyakim Rubinstein demanded that Netanyahu establish a state commission of inquiry.

“The blood of our brothers and sisters cries out to us from the ground,” he said. “Is there a single normal person who thinks there should not be an investigation?”

The rally ended with families of the October 7 victims leading the crowd in singing the national anthem, “Hatikva.” Organizers said another rally will be held at the same time and place next week.

But the rallies also had moments of optimism. At Hostages Square, Herkin told rallygoers that watching the protests from the tunnels in Gaza made him want to hug every last citizen of Israel.

“Almost all the guys” are back from Gaza, said Herkin. “We’ll give one last push and get to the finish line.”