Family members of hostages still held in Hamas captivity set off on day two of their planned four-day march, leaving from Kibbutz Gat on Thursday morning and planning to arrive in Beit Shemesh by the evening.
The march, titled "United For The Release Of The Hostages," is an initiative of the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, and part of a four-day walk from Gaza to Jerusalem, starting at the Re'im parking lot (the site of one of Hamas's worst massacres on October 7) and passing through Sderot, Kiryat Gat, Beit Shemesh before finally arriving in Jerusalem.
At 4:00 p.m., the families will arrive at Beit Gurvin for a special ceremony before arriving at Branco Weiss High School in Beit Shemesh by 7.30 p.m.
At the end of the first day of the march, several former Hamas hostages spoke.
"In captivity, we went through psychological terror; we were told that we were being left behind," former hostage Danielle Aloni stated. "The most terrifying question that went through my head during my captivity was, 'Am I going to be the next Ron Arad'?"
Shani Goren, another survivor of Hamas captivity, told those gathered, "I stand in front of you here today, and I still can't believe that three months have passed since then, and they are still not with us. I know how to say with sorrow and sadness that every day is an eternity, every hour there is a cruel infinity, the State of Israel should return them!'