Arriving at the religious communities of Nof Ayalon and Kibbutz Sha’alvim in the Ayalon Valley on Thursday, family members of hostages being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet do more to secure the release of their loved ones.
Thousands of people have joined the five-day march. They plan to reach Jerusalem on Saturday and protest outside the Prime Minister’s Residence.
As the marchers arrived at the communities in the Ayalon Valley – where, according to the Bible, God listened to Joshua and made the sun stop and the moon stand still – they chanted: “No victory until the last hostage is returned,” and “What if it was your family?” They were greeted by the sound of a shofar blowing and singing by yeshiva and seminary students.
The families issued a statement that said they have heard what Hamas wants, what the US wants, what Qatar wants, but they still have not heard what the Israeli government is demanding to approve a deal to release the hostages.
Calling for hostage return
The march is taking place amid reports that Israel and Hamas are negotiating a deal for a partial hostage release in exchange for Palestinian terrorist prisoners. The details of a possible deal have not been made public.
Some 239 people were taken hostage by Hamas following the October 7 massacre in which at least 1,200 people died. Israel declared war, with the aim of toppling the Hamas-ruled regime.Four hostages have been released in negotiations brokered by Qatar and the US, and one woman soldier was rescued by the IDF.Hamas said on Monday it was ready to release up to 70 women and children hostages in return for a five-day truce and the release of 275 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons, Reuters reported. Netanyahu said there would be no truce until all the hostages are released.Nof Ayalon resident Tamar Wiseman said despite the likelihood that most of the religious residents of the community would have political differences with the largely secular marchers, it was important to show the unity of Israel in the face of adversity.“They are in pain, and we are in pain,” she said. “We are coming to pray together. We are here because we are one people. When our enemies see us together, then they have failed.”Nava Shaham, of Ra’anana, said: “Today, we felt the need to show the families our presence, how much the nation is with them, and that they are not alone. It is not just them; it is all of us. What happened to them could happen to us.”Maayan Zamir, a member of the communication team of the family forum, said it was empowering to see the different sectors of Israeli society coming together to return the hostages.“The families are saying they paid the price on October 7, and now it is the government’s turn to do whatever it takes to bring the hostages back,” she said. “We have to put all politics aside for the shared goal of returning the hostages.”MKs from across the political spectrum took part in the march, including Interior Minister Moshe Arbel (Shas) and Deputy Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Moshe Abutbul (Shas), Religious Zionist Party MK Ohad Tal, Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel (Likud), Yisrael Beytenu MK Yulia Malinovsky, Yesh Atid MK Ron Katz, and Labor MK Efrat Rayten.March participant Tsipi Hamerman of Yad Natan, who lost friends and family members in the massacre, said she was unable to continue participating in the march when she saw members of the government who she feels are responsible for the failure.“Where are they at the funerals and the shivas?” she asked. “I want this government to take responsibility for what happened and to move over and let someone else lead.”The marchers continued to Modi’in to comfort the family of soldier Noa Marciano, who the IDF on Tuesday said had died in captivity after Hamas released a video with footage of her a few days after being taken hostage and then images of her lifeless body.In a message sent to the members of the war cabinet, the Marciano family said: “Bibi, Galant, and Gantz, you abandoned us. We want Noa at home. Come talk to the families. You will not decide on a deal on your own.”The Marciano family was one of the leading families in the fight for the return of the abductees and said they would return to the family forum’s activities.“Our children are there,” said Avi Marciano, Noa’s father. “You will not make a deal on your own. There will not be more than one transaction, and in this transaction you will come to talk to us. We’re done with niceties. We’re taking off our gloves and coming to fight you. Shame on you.“We were abandoned once on the black Sabbath. We were abandoned a second time when we were informed of Noa’s death. We cannot allow the Israeli government to abandon us a third time.”