Families of hostages held in Gaza delivered their weekly message outside IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, as negotiations intensify to secure their release before the new US administration takes office.
“It is obvious that those who do not want to end the war will try to derail the agreement. Netanyahu says the time has come to release everyone, but he refuses to do the only thing that would allow their return: put end the war,” says Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan was captured during the Hamas attack in October 2023.
“Imagine the moment when the end of the war and the return of all the hostages will be announced. Imagine the joy throughout the country, the jubilation in the streets, the citizens celebrating the sacredness of life and mutual responsibility,” adds- she said with emotion. Ayala Metzger, daughter-in-law of Yoram Metzger, hostage who died in captivity, launches a poignant appeal for an agreement. “Instead of seeing the hostages return alive, we receive them in body bags. Only in Israel can a total failure be presented as a ‘heroic operation’,” she denounces. “We don’t want to see any more soldiers losing their lives recovering bodies. We don’t want any more casualties in a war with no outcome.” “How much more blood must be shed for Netanyahu’s personal interests, for messianic illusions at the expense of hostages and soldiers?” she concluded.
