Thousands of anti-government protesters gathered outside Israel’s Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv on Saturday, again calling for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s resignation and a ceasefire in Gaza to allow for the repatriation of hostages taken in the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack.
One protester held a sign calling Netanyahu an “enemy of Israel,” while others covered their bodies with fake blood and bandages and lay in the street.
Since October, relatives and family members of the hostages have held weekly street demonstrations to pressure the government to bring their loved ones home. November ceasefire Refugees have been rescued. But more than 100 people are still stranded in Gaza. It is not clear how many are still alive.
Noa Argamani, a hostage rescued on June 8, called for the release of the remaining hostages in a video posted by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the families of hostages held in Gaza.
“We have to do everything we can to bring them home,” Ms. Agamani said in the video. She was abducted and taken to Gaza on October 7 along with her partner, Avinathan Orr. Still taking place.
Efrat Yahalomi, sister of French-Israeli hostage Ohad Yahalomi, who was taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz, said she was “extremely distressed” to learn that the Israeli hostage was suffering in captivity.
“It’s been almost nine months and I still stand here with a heavy heart and you, Ohad, still haven’t come,” she said in a statement released by the forum.
