The families of the hostages taken into Gaza by Hamas on October 7 demonstrated outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea on Friday night.
Many arrived with tents they erected on the public sidewalk nearby in order to stay overnight and throughout Shabbat, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
The protesters made clear to the prime minister that his highest calling must be to return the hostages alive, with slogans such as “For 105 days we begged you and now we demand: stop the executions of the hostages.”
Calling on him to come out and face them, they said “Prove your leadership and lead a courageous move that will advance the outline that is known to be on the table, it’s not just about freeing hostages, it’s about saving lives.
“The days of grace in which you dragged your feet are over,” the families called out, in the hope that he would provide them with answers.
"It's a matter of life and death!"
Several family members made personal pleas to the Israeli public.
Ofir Weinberg, a cousin of murdered hostage Itai Sabirsky, said: “Itai was executed. That’s what we said would happen and that’s what happened. Returning the hostages is the most important task right now.
Ella Ben Ami, daughter of hostage Ohad Ben Ami, said that it has “turned from begging for their return to begging to save their lives. It’s a matter of life and death. We demand an international conference now with Qatar, Egypt, the United States, and Israel. Let them sit in one corridor and come to an understanding of how to get the kidnapped people home. We call on the prime minister of Israel to take a brave step and return alive those who are still alive and to return the bodies [of those who are not], to be buried in an Israeli grave as they deserve. I call on everyone to stop wringing your hands, sober up, and do something now!”