Thousands of protesters rallied in Jerusalem on Sunday demanding the release of around 130 hostages still held in Gaza after six months of Israel’s war against Hamas.
Former hostages and relatives of the remaining abductees staged this protest to mark the fate of those held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip six months after the October 7 attacks.
More than 50,000 people showed up for the Jerusalem rally calling for the hostages to be brought home, according to the organization of family members behind the march.
A number of sisters of the women who are still being held hostage stood on stage at the beginning of the event dressed in clothes like those worn by the women on October 7, when the Palestinian militant group Hamas led a surprise attack on Israel triggering the current war.
Several taped their mouths shut as a symbol of the hostages’ speechlessness and painted red paint on their clothes or arms as a sign of blood.
“I am addressing the prime minister and the security cabinet from here: More reluctance and indecision means more hostages will return to us in coffins,” cried Lishay Lavi Miran, the wife of the abducted Omri Miran.
“I beg you: Do not return from the negotiations without a deal that includes my Omri and the other men.”
Yehuda Cohen, the father of a hostage, said, “I came here to demand that someone takes real responsibility for returning all our loved ones, someone who will save us from this hell, someone who will give us hope instead of hatred and fear, someone who will unite the people from division and fragmentation.”
Relatives of the hostages recalled the festivities of the past six months, which had to be celebrated without their loved ones.
Now they hoped to return for the Passover seder plate during one of the most important holidays in Judaism, celebrated from April 22 to 30, 2024.
Hamas gunmen burst into Israel on Oct. 7, killed 1,200 people in their homes, on army bases, along roads and at an outdoor rave, and inflicting sexual violence on some of their victims, according to a U.N. team of experts.
The gunmen also seized 253 hostages, including children and elderly, civilians and soldiers. Around half of them were released as part of a brief truce deal in late November.
Israel responded with massive airstrikes and a ground offensive, which have killed more than 33,000 people, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, much of which has been left in ruins and on the brink of famine.
Hamas released 105 hostages during a week-long ceasefire at the end of November.
In return, Israel released 240 Palestinian prisoners.
According to Israeli estimates, almost 100 of the hostages are still alive.
Talks to secure another ceasefire that would include the release of dozens more of the remaining hostages, resumed in Egypt on Sunday.
However, some hostage families are wary, with previous rounds of negotiations having gone nowhere and some of the hostages dying in captivity.
“Their families and everybody here has had enough. And people need to understand that and the world needs to stand up and get them back,” said Michal Nachshon, 39, who made her way from Tel Aviv to the protest outside Israel’s parliament.
“It’s above politics. It’s above religion, it’s a humanitarian issue and that’s what we’re here to shout today,” she added.
