Israelis gathered at protests for the hostages around the country on Saturday night, with locations in Jerusalem, Caesarea, Rehovot, Haifa, Tel Aviv, Herzliya, Netanya, Ha’ogen Junction, and more, and a central stage in Tel Aviv organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
Protests, ongoing almost since the outbreak of the war, have ramped up after a temporary lull in the weeks following the news that the bodies of six hostages – alive for months in captivity and killed soon before the IDF reached them – were returned to Israel. As progress on a hostage deal has seemed to stall again, frustration and pessimism about the possibility of bringing the hostages home have given protesters renewed energy.
Hundreds of thousands gathered in Tel Aviv and tens of thousands gathered at locations around the country, the forum said.
Statements by the hostages' families
Yehuda Cohen, father of hostage Nimrod Cohen, asked the international community to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of a rally in Tel Aviv. Speaking to protest organizer Nava Rozolyo in a clip posted to her X/Twitter account, he said that Netanyahu “is the only” block to a hostage deal.
Cohen added that there is currently no deal being discussed and that he wants to see a hostage deal that includes a ceasefire.
Protesters also gathered outside the home of President Isaac Herzog's Tzahala home, renaming the street Herzog lives on "The Abandoning President" Street - covering street signs with stickers showing this new name.
The president "normalized the abandonment of the hostages in Hamas captivity by the prime minister of October 7, the abandoner - Benjamin Netanyahu, and was silent in the face of Benjamin Netanyahu and the government of October 7's torpedoing of hostage deals," read the sign.
"Tonight is 351 days of the abandonment of 101 hostages in Hamas captivity," said the Hostage Family Forum in a statement ahead of Saturday's rally.
"The government has given up on them - but there is no way that the citizens of The State of Israel will give up on them. They are our sisters and brothers - we are their only chance."
"Only an unprecedented, widespread and powerful public struggle will bring them back," the forum added.
Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, said that for months “we have been sounding the alarm about Netanyahu’s torpedoing, which stalls a deal intentionally.”
“We warned that it was a [hostage] deal or regional escalation,” she added, saying that “now everyone can see that Netanyahu has chosen regional escalation.”
Zangauker also said that “just as he built Hamas up for years, Netanyahu is still cooperating with [Hamas Gaza chief Yahya] Sinwar and giving him what he wants: multi-front war.”
Protesters also gathered outside President Isaac Herzog’s Tzahala home, renaming the street he lives on “The Abandoning President” Street and covering street signs with stickers showing this new name.
The president “normalized the abandonment of the hostages in Hamas captivity by the prime minister of October 7 – the abandoner – Benjamin Netanyahu, and was silent in the face of Benjamin Netanyahu and the government of October 7’s torpedoing of hostage deals,” read the sign.
“Tonight is 351 days of the abandonment of 101 hostages in Hamas captivity,” said the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in a statement ahead of Saturday’s rally.
“The government has given up on them – but there is no way that the citizens of the State of Israel will give up on them. They are our sisters and brothers – we are their only chance.”
“Only an unprecedented, widespread, and powerful public struggle will bring them back,” the forum added.
Shahar Mor, the nephew of the murdered hostage Avraham Monder, was arrested on Pinx Street in Tel Aviv, near Gideon Sa'ar's house. A protest legal support organization - Legal Aid for Protesters, cited an officer at the scene saying he would be released but summoned for questioning on Sunday.
The Women's Protest for the Return of the Hostages also called on the public to take to the streets and call to bring the hostages home.
“Especially this week, when a total war is around the corner, when the prime minister prefers the wholeness of the coalition to a professional defense minister, when [government hostage coordinator] Gal Hirsch spreads another spin about a deal that does not exist, when it looks like we are getting farther away from a real deal – now is the time to take to the streets,” said the protest group.
“We won’t let cheap spin push the hostages back and hush up the abandonment. We won’t let the government give up on 101 hostages.”