Relatives of the remaining hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip rallied outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private home Saturday to demand a deal that would bring them home.
“Do you know where your child slept last night?” Shelly Shem-Tov, whose son 21-year-old Omer, is among the hostages, begged the crowd outside Netanyahu’s Caesarea home, the Times of Israel reported.
“Can you call your child right now and ask how he is? For 105 days, I haven’t known where my child is,” the desperate mother cried.
Shem-Tov and other hostages’ relatives camped overnight outside Netanyahu’s home to demand the government take bolder steps to secure the release of the over 100 people held captive since Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack on Southern Israel.
The Israeli government previously said that there are more than 130 hostages still in Gaza, following November’s temporary ceasefire exchanges – but that only around 100 are believed to be alive.
On Friday, Eli Shtivi – whose son, Idan, was kidnapped from the Nova music festival – started a hunger strike outside the prime minister’s home.
The distressed father vowed to only eat a quarter of a pita per day – the same amount of food the hostages reportedly receive on certain days – until Netanyahu agreed to meet with him.
Many of the rally attendees held Israeli flags and signs with their loved ones’ faces.
There was also display of empty seats to represent those being held in Gaza.
“We are here to demand from Netanyahu some action,” Udi Goren, whose cousin Tal Haimi was murdered on Oct. 7, said in a video posted on X by journalist Yardena Schwartz.
“We know that there are deals on the table. We know he’s not getting anything done in terms of bringing [the hostages] back home because he refuses to sign a deal. And we demand action,” he insisted.
“We are losing the hostages every single day,” Goren added. “They must be back home before all of them are back in coffins.”
Over the past few months, Netanyahu, 74, has repeatedly pledged to press on with the war until Hamas is definitively defeated and the hostages are returned – though he has been vague about how exactly Israel will accomplish these goals.
The emotional weekend protest also came just a couple days after former Israeli army chief Gadi Eisenkot called out Netanyahu’s insistence that the country’s counteroffensive in Gaza would bring the hostages home.
“[The hostages] will only return alive if there is a deal, linked to a significant pause in fighting,” said Eisenkot, whose son was killed while fighting in Gaza in December, during a television interview Thursday.
As part of its official effort to free the hostages, the Israeli military on Saturday dropped leaflets on Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.
The fliers featured photos of the dozens of hostages, as well as messages promising benefits for anyone who revealed their location.
“You want to return home? Please report if you identified one of them,” the print read, alongside a phone number and a link to a website with more names and images.
Al-Madj al-Amni, a Hamas-linked media outlet, subsequently warned Palestinians against providing the Israeli forces with any information.
With Post wires