Families of the hostages from the Tikvac Forum held a press conference at the Knesset today (Monday) where they criticized the emerging deal. The families demanded a deal that would return all the hostages at once. Tzvika Mor, father of hostage Eitan Mor, addressed the Prime Minister: "Mr. Prime Minister, as time passes, we hear that the deal is taking shape and we are not willing to accept a deal that discriminates among Jews 80 years after the Holocaust. We will not accept the Israeli government saying to Hamas that it's okay to keep the remaining hostages, who knows for how many years. There is no way in the world that the Israeli government will sign a deal in which the hostages do not all come back at once. We are not willing to accept such a thing." Mor added that "The Forum has always stated that a deal must ensure the security of the State of Israel, this deal abandons the lives of Israeli citizens, the people who might be killed here, God forbid, are being decided now, just like in the Shalit deal. Have we learned nothing? If I am able to grit my teeth and move on, you can too. Until victory. The release of the hostages only by defeating Hamas." Riki Baruch, sister-in-law of Uriel Baruch, said: "We are addressing the Prime Minister and the decision-makers, we waited long enough to feel calm when at the brink of a deal, and unfortunately we are not calm. We hear about a deal in stages, we compromise on all the strategic assets gathered during this tough war for one step, then we'll have to negotiate for the continuation of returning our dear ones home. We waited over 400 days to reach the second stage, since the release of the hostages in the previous phase, and we cannot wait any longer. We are already tired, exhausted, and we want all our dear ones home, not in phases, not in steps." Related articles: Orange butterfly named in honor of Ariel Bibas 'I'd like to get as many hostages as we can' Sasha Troufanov prays at Lubavitcher Rebbe’s resting place Hostages' father shares moving moment with special needs children Boaz Miran, brother of hostage Omri Miran, said: "In recent days, we are again facing a deal that will abandon my brother and most of the other hostages, such a deal that abandons all hostages upfront, is unacceptable. If the Israeli government is going to agree to such a deal, it should have demanded upfront, as a primary condition for any negotiation, the full list of all 98 hostages, a report on their current medical condition, and proof of such." Shimon Or, uncle of hostage Avinatan Or said: "This deal, as we have heard from senior officials on the hostage issue, is a betrayal of most hostages. We see a red flag on this deal, it is illegal from our perspective, from a humanitarian standpoint, from a human perspective." Or addressed the government members: "We call on everyone in the government, both in Likud and in the coalition, to say that with such a deal, they will not continue with the government." He added: "There is an alternative. The alternative is to continue to dismantle Hamas, which is already fragmented in Gaza, take responsibility for the humanitarian issue, and reach local agreements with those holding the hostages, with permission to leave, money, and other incentives, this is possible, and this is what will bring most of the hostages back to us."
