‘You got your revenge!’: Protesters demand government leverage Sinwar death for deal
‘After the elimination of Hamas and its leadership, what else is there to do in Gaza?’ demands mother of hostage Matan Zangauker in Tel Aviv
Relatives of hostages and thousands of protesters around the country Saturday night called on the government to leverage the killing of Hamas leader and October 7 architect Yahya Sinwar earlier this week to reach a deal for the return of the remaining hostages still held in Gaza.
Parents, siblings, and other family members of hostages were present at several different protest locations, urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seize on the opportunity presented by Sinwar’s death to return their loved ones home while they are still alive.
“You got your revenge! Now bring consolation!” declared a large banner held by multiple protesters in Tel Aviv.
Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, one of the most vocal critics of the government among relatives, demanded to know what else could be achieved in Gaza after Sinwar’s death, while Simona Steinbrecher, mother of hostage Doron Steinbrecher, insisted that the “picture of victory” presented by the slaying of Sinwar meant there was “a historic opportunity” to get her daughter and the other hostages back alive.
Protesters in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square underlined the plight of hostage Naama Levy, with dozens of women dressed in similar clothes to what the captive IDF surveillance soldier wore when abducted, walking through a mock-up Hamas tunnel in the Square.
Thousands of protesters also took to Begin Road in Tel Aviv to demand a hostage deal and end to the war.
The rallies in Tel Aviv were the first to be staged in the city since the end of September, after they were called off for a few weeks due to IDF Home Front restrictions amid the escalating conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Demonstrations were also staged elsewhere in the country, including outside President Isaac Herzog’s home in Tel Aviv and outside Netanyahu’s residence in Caesarea, calling for a hostage release deal.
“The war aim of creating conditions for returning the hostages has been obtained,” Einav Zangauker said in remarks to the press outside IDF Headquarters in Tel Aviv earlier on Saturday afternoon.
“Only a deal will bring back everyone. After the elimination of Hamas and its leadership, what else is there to do in Gaza?”
She also addressed Netanyahu, telling him, “The excuses are over.”
“The time has come to stop fearing [Itamar] Ben Gvir and [Bezalel] Smotrich,” Zangauker continued, referring to the far-right government ministers who publicly oppose proposals for the return of hostages that would necessitate stopping the campaign in Gaza.
Channel 12 news reported Saturday that both Ben Gvir and Smotrich have since Sinwar’s death demanded that Netanyahu persist with military pressure on Hamas and not reach a hostage deal. Without citing sources, the outlet claimed that Netanyahu himself had planned to leverage Sinwar’s demise to reach a deal.
Speaking at the protest outside Herzog’s private residence in Tel Aviv, Yehuda Cohen, father of hostage Nimrod Cohen, demanded he exert pressure on Netanyahu to secure a deal.
“This is a desperate call. This is a desperate call, Mr. Herzog. After the assassination of Sinwar, we know that in Hamas it’s every man for himself, and cells of terrorists holding hostages might assassinate them and run away,” said Cohen.
“This is urgent, time is running out, every minute is precious. Please Mr. Herzog, go to Netanyahu and demand from him to go for a hostage deal, for a ceasefire, for a full withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip, so my son Nimrod, after more than a year in the tunnels, can come back home, can be released, so his life will be secured,” he continued.
Pointing to replicas of six coffins brought to the protest, Cohen said he did not want the fate of his son and the rest of the living hostages to be the same as that of the six hostages who were murdered by their captors at the end of August, when IDF forces were closing in on their location.
Earlier in Hostages Square, dozens of women took part in a march around the plaza to honor kidnapped surveillance soldier Naama Levy.
The women, most of them barefoot, wore gray sweatpants and black T-shirts, in homage to what the 20-year-old wore when Hamas snatched Levy and four other surveillance soldiers from Nahal Oz base on October 7, 2023 and abducted them to Gaza.
The march began near an installation of five monitors akin to the ones Levy and other kidnapped surveillance soldiers would have used on the job, which was erected in the square in recent days.
The women’s hands were painted red and bound with zip-locks in reference to how Levy appeared in a video clip from October 7, as a Palestinian terrorist dragged her out of a jeep in Gaza, handcuffed and bloodied.
The Times of Israel Community.