The families of the hostages on Friday held a Shabbat gathering outside the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem with one clear demand: “Prime Minister Netanyahu, leave the Shabbat table and move to the negotiating table.”
They announced Tuesday as the next National Day of Action, as part of escalating steps to demand the return of all the hostages and an end to the war. They called on the public to stand with the hostages and their families, as they did last Sunday.
The families warned that further military escalation endangers the lives of the hostages, and stressed that the narrow window of opportunity to finalize a deal is rapidly closing.
Ruby Chen, father of hostage Itay Chen, said, “In July 2024, I stood at the White House with the former President of the United States, across from the Prime Minister of Israel. We were told that principles for a deal had been agreed to by the Prime Minister and approved by the Cabinet. We heard that Hamas was ready to move forward, and the Prime Minister looked us in the eyes and said: ‘Just a little more patience and we will have an agreement.’”
“That was a year and a half ago. Now, a year and a half later, we hear the same principles — the very ones the Prime Minister himself proposed and the Cabinet approved. Just last week, we heard that Hamas had accepted them. And now that Hamas says ‘I am ready,’ what do we hear from our Prime Minister? That it is not possible,” said Chen.
“The people stand behind us. You saw it last Sunday, when millions filled the streets all saying the same thing: you have one mandate, and one only - the will of the people. To bring back the 50 hostages: the living for rehabilitation, and the murdered for a proper burial,” he concluded.
Also speaking was Shay Dickmann, cousin of Carmel Gat who was murdered with five other hostages last August.
“Exactly one year ago, I stood here outside the Prime Minister’s Residence after the announcement that six hostages who were alive had returned dead, and those were not even the five who came back with Carmel. We stood here and demanded of the Prime Minister: how can you promise us that our loved ones will not be next?” said Dickmann.
“And then the trigger was pulled again. Ori, Almog, Alex, Hersh, Eden, and Carmel, may her memory be a blessing, took their last breaths before they turned from heroic survivors into a pool of blood in a Hamas tunnel. It could have been prevented then, and it can be prevented today. Their fate is only a decision away.”
“I am privileged, because this week I can go to Carmel’s grave. But the families of hostages who were murdered cannot because their loved ones are buried in the soil of Gaza,” said Dickmann.
He concluded by calling out, “Prime Minister, we are a people who sanctify life. For us, every person is an entire world. Every living hostage, every fallen hostage, each one is a world entire.”
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)