Hostage families called on the public to put on a mass display of solidarity and attend rallies for the captives on Saturday night, saying Israel faces “decisive days” after US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan appeared to pick up steam.
Tens of thousands of Israelis are expected to attend the Hostages and Missing Families Forum’s rally at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square and other locations, which also comes days before the hostages mark two years in Hamas captivity.
Overnight, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel was ready for the “immediate implementation of the first stage of Trump’s plan for the immediate release of all the hostages” after Trump accepted Hamas’s response to the US proposal. Israel is now set to send hostage-ceasefire negotiators to talks expected to take place in Sharm al-Sheikh, and has ordered the IDF to halt its offensive to take over Gaza City.
“We are in decisive days for a deal,” said the Forum, which represents most of the hostage families. “This is the hour when all of Israel must stand together and demand loudly: do everything possible to bring our brothers and sisters home.”
“The square is where we can all send a clear message together: Bring them all home and end the war! We will not stop until the last hostage returns,” the forum said. “This is the time, the place, and the moment to prove that nothing is stronger than Israeli solidarity,” it said.
Set to speak at Hostages Square are former hostages Gadi Mozes and Omer Shem Tov, both of whom were released earlier this year in the last ceasefire with Hamas; Liran Berman, brother of twin hostages Gali and Ziv Berman; Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker; and Bat-Sheva Yahalomi, mother of Eitan Yahalomi, who was released from Hamas captivity during the weeklong ceasefire in November 2023, and widow of slain hostage Ohad Yahalomi, whose remains were returned in February as part of the last ceasefire.
Also set to speak and Ayelet Goldin, sister of Hadar Goldin, who was killed fighting in Gaza in 2014 and is the only remaining hostage abducted before the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza; and former minister Izhar Shay, whose son, Staff Sgt. Yaron “Noni” Shay was killed fending off the Hamas invasion.
In addition, pop singer Ninet Tayeb will sing “with dozens of captivity survivors” at the Hostages Square rally, the Forum said.
The Forum will hold smaller rallies in other places across the country, including Jerusalem, Kiryat Gat and the Shaar HaNegev Junction in the south, it said.
Overnight, relatives of the hostages expressed support for Trump’s call for Israel to halt strikes on Gaza.
Ronen Neutra, the father of slain American-Israeli hostage soldier Cpt. Omer Maxim Neutra, hailed Trump’s statement as “a brave move of leadership,” saying he hoped it “will lead to the swift release of our son and the other 47 hostages and that the government of Israel and Hamas leadership won’t find a way to thwart it.”
The father of slain captive Sgt. Itay Chen, like Neutra, a dual US-Israeli citizen who was killed during the Hamas onslaught nearly two years ago, said he was cautiously optimistic.
“I support President Trump’s statement on stopping the Israeli strikes to exhaust the opportunity to release all the hostages,” said Ruby Chen. “My family has been waiting two years for the return of my son, an Israeli hero. President Trump gives me hope that the day we unite with Itay is close.”
Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, shared Trump’s statement in a post on X, writing, “Did you read it Netanyahu?”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum also released a statement declaring it “stands firmly with President Trump in his commitment to bring home all the hostages and end the war.”
“President Trump’s demand to stop the war immediately is essential to prevent serious and irreversible harm to the hostages,” it says. “We call on Prime Minister Netanyahu to immediately begin efficient and swift negotiations to bring all our hostages home.”
Additionally, on Saturday, Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital announced that it was prepared to accept and treat any hostages should they be released.
“Ichilov is ready at any given moment to accept the returning [hostages] and provide them with medical treatment and the highest level humane environment as was done throughout the war,” the medical center said in a statement.
“At the moment, the teams that are responsible for treating the returned are being briefed,” the hospital said. “Ichilov stands with the families of the hostages and hopes for their immediate return.”
A block away from Hostages Square, outside the Begin Road entrance to the IDF headquarters, anti-government hostage families and activists were also expected to rally.
Several left-wing organizations will also hold a protest in between the two Tel Aviv rallies, at the Shaul HaMelech-Begin interchange, the groups said in a statement titled “there is no atonement for genocide,” alluding to Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, which Jews worldwide marked on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel — an umbrella organization of the Arab community — said it would hold a large anti-war rally in the northern Arab city of Sakhnin on Saturday afternoon.
The Sakhnin protest will mark 25 years since clashes with police left 13 Arab Israelis dead during riots at the start of the 2000-2005 Second Intifada.
In a statement issued after Trump presented his ceasefire plan, but before he said Hamas agreed to it, the High Follow-Up Committee expressed distrust in “so-called international efforts to stop the war.”
“Our experience… does not leave us optimistic about stopping this ongoing carnage,” said the Committee, vowing to “oppose the war of extermination, displacement and starvation.”
Trump presented his Gaza “eternal peace” plan on Monday in a joint press conference with Netanyahu, who endorsed the offer.
Hamas said Friday that it accepted the deal’s hostage exchange formula, which would see Israel, in exchange for the remaining 48 captives, release 250 Palestinians serving life terms in Israel; 1,700 Gazans detained by Israel since October 7, 2023; and the remains of 15 slain Gazans for each one of the slain hostages, of whom there are at least 26, according to the IDF.
The terror group said it was prepared to immediately “discuss the details” of the hostage deal with mediators — apparently a reference to the still-undetermined identities of the Palestinians to be released.
However, Hamas has said it would be unable to return all 48 captives in the first 72 hours of a ceasefire, as stipulated by Trump’s proposal. In its response on Friday, the terror group said the captives’ release would be subject to “field conditions.” The group also gave no indication that it would be willing to disarm — a key demand that Hamas has rejected.
Trump’s ceasefire proposal has been welcomed by Western, Arab and Muslim nations, as well as the Palestinian Authority, and also by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum’s more hawkish counterpart, the Tikva Forum.