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Families Demand Gaza Deal, Warning Israeli Military Pressure Will Cost Hostages' Lives [1]

['Linda Dayan']

Date: 2024-08-10

Protests demanding the release of hostages and opposing Israel's ruling coalition took place countrywide on Saturday evening.

Families of hostages spoke outside the country's defense headquarters in Tel Aviv, followed by a protest.

"Israel's military pressure on Hamas will cause more hostages to die," said Shay Mozes, whose uncle, Gadi Mozes, is being held captive in Gaza. Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is held in Gaza, blasted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for "using hostages as pawns to preserve his power."

Zangauker said in her speech that the country had "reached a crucial moment. This is our final chance to secure a deal that will save lives... Netanyahu continues to trade on the lives of hostages in exchange for maintaining his seat of power."

The hostage's mother further warned that if the families "do not secure a comprehensive hostage release deal now, and Netanyahu continues to drag his feet – all we will get back are body bags, if we get anything at all. Netanyahu is willing to escalate the situation instead of signing a deal which would save lives and prevent a dangerous regional escalation."

Open gallery view A photo of a hostage held by Hamas is projected as relative speaks in Tel Aviv, Saturday. Credit: Tomer Appelbaum

Speaking on behalf of the protesting families, Zanguaker called on members of Israel's negotiating team to demand that Netanyahu approve reaching a deal in the upcoming summit this Thursday. "Do not give in to him; do not let him play you," she said. "We are counting on you to bring our loved ones home. Securing a hostage release deal is the true victory and is the key to preventing a dangerous regional escalation."

A rally organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum took place in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv.

Open gallery view Protesters light a bonfire in Caesarea, Saturday. Credit: Yair Gil

At the Hostage Square hostage, the main screen read, "10 months, 115 hostages. You failed!"

Natalie Ben Ami, the daughter of hostage Ohad Ben Ami, spoke to the crowd, saying : "Dad, I miss your voice, which I'm already forgetting… I'm sorry you're still there, still suffering, experiencing October 7 over and over… For almost a year now, we've been fighting and doing everything to bring you home."

Open gallery view Protesters in Tel Aviv, Saturday. Credit: Hadas Parush

Gil Elias, a relative of Avera Mengistu, who has been held hostage by Hamas since well before October 7, also spoke, saying the family knew he was alive. "Try to understand what Avera's mother is going through," he said. October 9, he said, will make a decade of Avera being in Gaza. "In 10 years, there were a number of opportunities to free Avera, but because of the makeup of the coalition, that wasn't possible," much like the opportunity to free the hostages now, he said.

"For this, we need a new coalition, of brave people who can put the pressure on to do the right thing," continued Elias. "We can't normalize this situation. We can't forget for a moment that there are 115 hostages in Gaza."

Open gallery view Protesters in Tel Aviv, Saturday. Credit: Tomer Appelbaum

Also speaking was Yamit Ashkenazi, sister of Doron Steinbrecher. "My little sister has been for ten months now, not eating, not drinking, not wearing clean clothes, exposed at every moment to sexual, mental, and physical abuse," she said.

"I call on the people, decision makers, the cabinet: wake up already," she continued. "Act now! There's a deal on the table, one that the people, the security establishment, our allies, the Abraham Accords states, have signed."

Richelle Tzarfati, mother of the late Ofir Tzarfati, whose body was retrieved from Gaza in November, addressed the crowd as well. "The brutal kidnapping and murder of Ofir…left us with questions about our values," she said. "As a nation, we always believed we were responsible for each other... I ask you not to forget the hostages, not to let your hearts be hardened. Look at their smiles, look at the life in their eyes. They're waiting for us."

The final speaker at the rally was Lishay Lavi Miran, the wife of hostage Omri Miram, who spoke of how her daughter, who just finished kindergarten, asks to wear her dad's shirt and necklace. "How are our most basic values, that we grew up on… such as the sacredness of human life… how did it all become political?" she asked.

In Jerusalem, hundreds of protesters marched from Beit Ha'am to Paris Square, where the main rally took place. Ilana Kaminka, the mother of Lieutenant Yanai Kaminka, who was killed on October 7, said in her speech, "We knew how to protest when our rights were violated, but we didn't take to the streets for the rights of the millions of Palestinians who share this land with us."

"Just as we're not going anywhere," she continued, "neither are they, and our shared home includes them as well.

She continued, "Right now, both the Palestinian and Israeli peoples are losing, big time. And if, someday, we do win, it will be together, because we all deserve a better future. I learned an important lesson from Yanai, my son and my teacher, about seeing people. He paid with his life for the government's failures. Let's not reach a point where the State of Israel pays with its life."

Eliya Dancyg, granddaughter of Alex Dancyg, who was murdered in Hamas captivity, spoke at the main anti-government protest in Tel Aviv. She said her grandfather's fate was similar to that of his own grandparents, who were killed in the Holocaust.

"You know what the difference is?" she said. "That we have a state now and the government can return my grandfather alive." She said Netanyahu had chosen his political fortunes over the country's citizens. "We all know how much charismatic leaders can lead a people to terror and blindness, and that's exactly what Benjamin Netanyahu has been doing for 10 months," she said.

Open gallery view Demonstrators with photos of hostages, Saturday. Credit: Ilan Assayag

Addressing the prime minister, she said: "I won't let you continue the holocaust you began here. Your duty is to bring back the hostages – those who are alive and those who have been murdered."

Hundreds protested over the security situation in the north near the kibbutz of Amiad. Social activist Wissam Kashkoush of the Galilee town of Nahf spoke, saying: "Arabs, Jews, Christians, Druze and Bedouin have lived together in good harmony for decades in the north of the country." He vowed that the war would not divide them.

Yael Gal, a resident of the Golan Heights kibbutz of Ortal, also spoke, saying the government didn't care about it when homes in the north burned and "our friends are killed on a simple drive home at a soccer game."

Ghadir Hani, a leader in the Standing Together and Women Wage Peace organizations, spoke at the Caesarea demonstration, saying: "A deal is also necessary for the sake of the thousands of innocents in Gaza, whose agonized deaths breaks the heart of everyone in whom humanity remains."

The main demonstration against the government and in support of early Knesset elections is taking place at the Azrieli Intersection in Tel Aviv. Additional protests are being held outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's private residence in Caesarea, as well as in Haifa, Be'er Sheva, Jerusalem and several other locations.

[END]
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[1] Url: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-08-10/ty-article/israelis-protest-across-country-to-call-for-hostage-deal-early-elections/00000191-3cdb-d254-a3d5-3cff8c9e0000

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