Many protesters accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of not doing enough to secure the release of the hostages and accuse it of putting its political survival ahead of the lives of the captives.
Hundreds of people gathered again in central Tel Aviv this Friday at what is now known as “Hostage Square” on Yom Kippur to pray for Israelis kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
Yom Kippur is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar and calls on believers to atone and repent for sins committed during the previous year.
Shay Dickmann, whose cousin Carmel Gat was killed in captivity, said she hoped the day of reflection would spur action to resolve the hostage crisis.
“I say today: Don’t say you’re sorry. Offer a deal that will save the lives of the other hostages who can still be saved. Carmel survived 328 days in captivity before being brutally murdered by her captors. Today ‘Today we must think about how we can act differently to avoid such horrors’she said.
Hamas killed around 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage during its October 7 incursion, which sparked the Gaza war.
About 100 people remain in captivity, a third of whom are believed to have died after most of the others were released during a week-long ceasefire in November 2023.
Many protesters accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of not doing enough to secure the release of the hostages and accuse it of putting its political survival ahead of the lives of the captives.
Since the Gaza war began in October, more than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed, but the Hamas-run health ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its tally.