Relatives of hostages and thousands of demonstrators throughout the country called on Saturday evening the government to take advantage of the assassination of Yahyia Sinwar, the leader of Hamas who had been the instigator of October 7, at the beginning of last week, to finalize an agreement that would open the door to the release of hostages still held in Gaza.
Parents, siblings and other relatives of hostage families were present at various gatherings. They urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seize the opportunity presented by Sinwar’s death in an effort to secure the return of the captives – while they are still alive.
“You took revenge!” Now, give us comfort,” was written on a large banner held up by several protesters who took to the streets in Tel Aviv.
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Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker – and one of the government’s harshest critics among the hostages’ relatives – asked what could still be accomplished in Gaza after Sinwar’s death. For her part, Simona Steinbrecher, the mother of hostage Doron Steinbrecher, insisted that “the victory photo” that was presented with de Sinwar’s death meant that there was “a historic opportunity” to return his daughter and the other hostages alive to Israeli soil.
On Hostage Square, dozens of women marched on the beach in tribute to Naama Levy, an IDF observer who was kidnapped on October 7.
The women, most of whom were barefoot, wore gray sweatpants and black T-shirts, wearing the same clothes the 20-year-old wore when Hamas kidnapped her along with four other Hamas soldiers. Nahal Oz military base on October 7, 2023, taking them to Gaza.
The march began near an installation made of five screens similar to those that Levy and the other abducted surveillance soldiers had used in their work, an installation that had been erected in the square in recent days.
The women’s hands were painted red and tied with zip ties, in reference to footage of Levy that was filmed on October 7 and showed the observer being dragged from a jeep in Gaza, handcuffed and bloodied, by a Hamas terrorist.
Thousands of protesters also stormed Begin Street in Tel Aviv to demand a deal to release the hostages and an end to the war.
Simona Steinbrecher (center), the mother of Doron, one of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, addresses protesters in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square, calling on the government to accept a deal to release the captives which would allow her daughter and other hostages to be repatriated on October 19, 2024. (Credit: Paulina Patimer)
These rallies in Tel Aviv were the first to be held in the city since the end of September. They had been canceled for a few weeks due to restrictions imposed by the Israeli army on the domestic front, in a context of escalating conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Demonstrations also took place elsewhere in the country – including in front of President Isaac Herzog’s home in Tel Aviv and in front of Netanyahu’s residence in Caesarea, where protesters also demanded the repatriation of the hostages as part of a deal.
“The objective of the war, which was to create the necessary conditions for the return of the hostages, has been achieved,” Einav Zangauker told reporters outside Israeli army headquarters in Tel Aviv in Saturday afternoon.
“Only an agreement will allow ours to be brought back. After the elimination of Hamas and its leaders, what remains to be done in Gaza? “, she asked.
She also addressed Netanyahu, saying, “The time for excuses is over.”
“The time has come to stop fearing [Itamar] I Gvir et [Bezalel] Smotrich,” Zangauker added, referring to far-right government ministers who openly oppose proposals opening the door to the return of the captives – which would require a halt to the military campaign in Gaza.
News channel N12 reported Saturday that Ben Gvir and Smotrich have both demanded since Sinwar’s death that Netanyahu maintain military pressure on Hamas, without reaching an agreement on the hostages. Without citing sources, the channel claimed that Netanyahu himself planned to take advantage of Sinwar’s death to reach a deal.
Eli Shtivi, the father of slain hostage Idan Shtivi, told the crowd at Hostage Square as part of the demonstration organized by the Forum of Families of Hostages and Missing Persons that “on both the right and left, there is something that unites everyone: everyone wants the hostages to be able to return home.
“And to you, Sinwar, the thug, I have only one message to convey,” he continued. “You thought you could sow disunity among us [et] disintegrate us: you have failed.”
For her part, in her speech Simona Steinbrecher, Doron’s mother, also thanked the soldiers on the ground in Gaza and welcomed the assassination of Sinwar. Speaking to international media in English, she called on governments around the world to “strongly push Hamas” to release the hostages and “bring more peace”.
Meirav Tal, who spent 53 days in captivity and was released in the November ceasefire agreement – her companion, Yair (Yaya) Yaakov, was killed during the pogrom of October 7 and his remains are currently in Gaza – said she has remained largely silent until now, adding that she now feels an obligation to oppose “the normalization of this destroyed reality in which we live” .
In captivity, she said, “the terrorists took everything from me – control of my body, control of my will.”
“I heard your cries on the Place des Otages, and it was a breath of fresh air for me,” she continued.
“Now that Israeli army troops have killed Sinwar, this psychopath, there is a little light,” she continued. “Now is the time to act with all the force necessary to bring the hostages home.”
Yaela David, the sister of hostage Eviatar David, and Shelly Shem-Tov, the mother of hostage Omer Shem-Tov, also spoke, lamenting that more than twelve months have passed since the kidnapping of their close ones.
At the protest outside Herzog’s private residence in Tel Aviv, Yehuda Cohen, the father of hostage Nimrod Cohen, asked the president to pressure Netanyahu to reach a deal.
“This is a desperate call. This is a desperate call, Mr. Herzog,” he said. “After Sinwar’s assassination, we know that in Hamas it’s every man for himself and that cells of terrorists holding hostages could murder them and escape.”
“It’s urgent, time is running out and every minute is precious. Please, President Herzog, go to Netanyahu and demand from him a hostage agreement, a ceasefire and a total withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip so that my son Nimrod, after more of a year spent in the tunnels, can come home, so that he can be freed, so that he can finally live his life in complete safety,” he continued.
Protesters dressed as kidnapped Israeli army observer Naama Levy, one of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, during a rally calling for a deal to release the captives in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, October 19 2024. (Credit: Paulina Patimer)
Showing six fake coffins that had been brought to the protest, Cohen said he did not want the fate of his son and the other living hostages to be the same as that of the six hostages who were murdered by their captors at the end in August, as Israeli army forces closed in on their location.
