Tens of thousands gathered Saturday night at Hostages Square, standing in solidarity with the families of the 13 deceased hostages whose bodies remain in captivity and sending a powerful message that they will not stop fighting until the last hostage comes home.
Anat Angrest, mother of captivity survivor Matan Angrest, shared: “After two years without air, Matan came home. He came back to life, and we started breathing again.”
“As a captured soldier, Matan was forced to endure horrific interrogations in the tunnel basements while severely wounded, bleeding, hovering between life and death for long months. His body bears scars of courage, scars that as a mother, I find difficult to look at and to imagine what he went through. He still doesn’t tell me everything; he protects me. He says, ‘Leave it, Mom, the main thing is I’m here.’ But his eyes fill with tears when he remembers that Itay Chen is still there. At every opportunity, he says he wants to put on his uniform and bring him back. So we won’t stop, we continue until everyone comes back. My family and I learned along the way what it feels like to be left behind, and we cannot allow that to happen to any other family. We won’t rest until everyone returns, until the last hostage.”
Lishay Miran-Lavi, wife of captivity survivor Omri Miran, added: “I can’t believe I can say this, but Omri is home tonight watching over our daughters. They’re probably sitting around the table right now, eating dinner after their bath. And soon he’ll put them to bed and tell them a bedtime story. This picture is no longer a dream - it’s reality, and it’s thanks to you, good people.”
“A few days ago, Roni and Alma asked us if we could take the magnets off the car. We removed Omri’s magnets. But the magnet with the yellow text ‘Until the Last Hostage’ and the picture of Lior Rudaeff-we explained to them, not yet. We explained that while Dad Omri came back, Lior still hasn’t returned. That maybe our family has finished waiting, but other parts of our extended family are still waiting. And we’re waiting with them.
“We can’t change the past or the failures, but the country and society in which our sons and daughters will grow up, we shape that every day with our choices. That’s why this struggle is so important. That’s why we must continue until the mission is complete. This is where we are tested.”
Noam Katz, daughter of Lior Rudaeff, said: “This week we buried Tal Haimi, who was returned to us. Dad and Tal left together on the morning of October 7th. They found themselves standing alone, without an army, without backup. Just them, the response team, civilians armed with courage and love for their home. They were the last barrier between the kibbutz families and dozens of terrorists. They fought until the last moment.”
“And at the end of that battle, Dad and Tal were kidnapped together to Gaza. This week Tal was returned, but Dad is still there.
“We will never be whole again, but we can be a people who have healed. A people who choose life, who choose light, a people who choose not to give up hope. This is my dream. This is our promise. And this is the power of one people who won’t give up, until the last one comes home.”
Moshe Lavi, brother in law of captivity survivor Omri Miran, added: “Since October 7, we, the families of the hostages, have carried a single torch through every palace, parliament, and court. From Jerusalem to Paris, from The Hague to the United Nations and the White House.”
“You, the people of Israel, communities across the world, and the employees and volunteers of our Hostage Forum branches worldwide shielded that light. You stood with us, marched with us, and prayed with us. You opened doors to the highest halls of power and the smallest houses of worship. You ensured the voices of our loved ones were heard even when the world turned away.
“You kept demanding that Hamas let our people go, and that our leaders bring our hostages home. Thanks to President Trump, Secretary of State Rubio, Special Envoy Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, to Israel’s brave soldiers and security forces, and to you, the people who dedicated yourselves to this mission, Omri is home, and so are many others. The torch still burns, and we will keep its flame alive until every hostage returns home.”
Rotem Cooper, son of Amiram Cooper, said: “Seven men, sweating, exhausted. The youngest among them, 35 years old. The oldest, 85. Long months had passed since the women and children with whom they shared cramped, dark, suffocating spaces were released. And they were left behind.”
“And despair… despair begins to seep in. They have no idea why they’ve been abandoned. And suddenly, the tunnel shakes. Bombs slice through the earth like a knife through butter. The noise is deafening. Dust fills the lungs. Impossible to see, impossible to breathe. In the chaos, understanding seeps in: from this, there’s probably no return.
“They don’t know that one of the bombs penetrated exactly into the tunnel chamber, beyond the steel door. And suddenly, the air disappears. Mouths open in a desperate attempt to inhale oxygen. One loses consciousness. Another wheezes. The others identify their captors through the darkness, approaching, weapons drawn. And they shoot, spraying in all directions. Sealing their fate. Death’s silence takes over the tunnel. And only the fine dust settles slowly, on lifeless hostage bodies, on moldy mattresses. Trapped in a cursed sarcophagus. Waiting for brave soldiers who will rescue them, who will at least bring them home, to eternal rest in their homeland.”
Alon Nimrodi, father of the late Staff Sergeant Tamir Nimrodi, said: “Our story has ended. In a heartbreaking way. Ended but not completed. There are still 13 hostages in Gaza, 13 brothers. During the shiva, I told my brothers from the hostage families still in Gaza that we are with them in the struggle. We won’t rest and we’ll continue until we can all stand by their side. The agreement has not been completed. We must fight for the return of all the hostages, all of them. The State of Israel has the responsibility to return all 13 hostages left behind. Every possible sanction must be taken against the terrorist organization Hamas, which violates the agreement time and time again, and demand the fulfillment of the first clause of the agreement in its entirety-the return of all the hostages.”
Nira Sharabi, wife of the late Yossi Sharabi, shared: “Our pain is immense. As long as you hadn’t returned to us, we could hold onto a spark of hope, even if we understood there was none. Now we have no way to escape even for a moment from the terrible truth-it’s over. We won’t have you anymore. You could have been here, and the feeling of missing out contracts from within. I take comfort in knowing that you’re watching over us from above and embracing us. We both know-we’ll continue forward, because we mustn’t give up on life.”
“We continue the struggle for everyone who still hasn’t returned. We won’t give up until everyone returns for a proper and fitting burial. These open, vague ends consume us from within. The families and the people of Israel. The end of all this will come with the burial of all the deceased.”