The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the majority of hostages’ relatives in the country, declared a “state of emergency” on Tuesday over the IDF’s new offensive in Gaza City, announcing that it had set up a tent encampment outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem overnight.
The announcement of the encampment, which the group said had police approval, came after some relatives of hostages camped outside the residence Monday night upon hearing news that the expected Gaza City operation had begun.
“Stand with us outside the Prime Minister’s Residence,” the Forum said in an appeal to the public. “The writing is on the wall! There will not be another time to save our brothers and sisters who have been suffering in the tunnels for 711 days. We cannot sacrifice the hostages. Together we will save Israel!”
Relatives of hostages have expressed fears with increasing urgency that the operation to conquer Gaza City would endanger their loved ones. There are 48 hostages held by terror groups in Gaza, of which some 20 are thought to still be alive.
The group said the encampment would “remain until Netanyahu listens and implements the people’s will — the immediate return of all hostages and an end to the war,” adding that it would hold demonstrations at the encampment every evening at 7:30 p.m.
Ruth Strom, mother of Eitan Horn and released hostage Iair Horn, told the Ynet news outlet that Tuesday was “an awful day.”
“My government isn’t doing anything to bring the hostages back. I didn’t think we would reach this moment. I thought a few people in the government would have a heart and would understand that the right thing to do was to bring everyone home,” she said.
“I’m no politician. I’m just a mother who, unfortunately, had two sons out of three taken hostage. We saw military pressure kill hostages. It didn’t help. I always thought my government would notice and decide that sometimes you need to give up on things to get what you want — which is all the hostages back here.”
Strom added that she thinks about Eitan all the time and that as long as she knows he is alive, she cannot give up on fighting for his return.
Michel Illouz, father of slain hostage Guy Illouz, told Ynet that the families did not intend to leave Azza Street, where Netanyahu lives.
“Azza Street will be called Hostages Street. We will fortify, we will erect a city of tents, we will spill into every lot in Jerusalem until the prime minister stops the war,” he said.
Illouz called the government’s repeated claim that military pressure would get the hostages back a lie.
“Does it make sense to anyone that I’ve had to fight for almost two years for a grave for my son? My son was abducted alive and is one of the 42 hostages who were murdered in captivity. What do they want to do now? Keep murdering more hostages?” he said.
Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, said that since Netanyahu and his team had “opted for an eternal war,” the hostages’ families would not leave their homes in peace.
“For every unilateral step that doesn’t align with our demand, we will react like we did last night. If Matan doesn’t have safety, the decision makers will have to protect themselves very well from us,” she threatened.
“We won’t give them peace. We won’t let them have conferences, celebrate Shabbat and holidays. It won’t happen. We are done being polite, we are done blocking roads for half an hour, we are done being nice. If the decision-makers announce that they are stopping the war in Gaza and say they have a real plan — only then will we stop. From here on out, we will only get louder.”
Anat Angrest, mother of Matan Angrest, called on Israelis to join the protest.
“This time, we’re not moving. We want to stay put until at least Rosh Hashanah eve [on Monday night],” she said. “We say, No more. We are going to stop the cycle of bloodshed for the hostages and our soldiers in Gaza.”
Opposition to the new operation was not voiced by all families of hostages, however. The Tikva Forum, which represents some hardline families of hostages and fallen soldiers, urged Netanyahu to take the offensive as far as he needs in order to fully defeat Hamas.
“Mr. Prime Minister, this time go all the way,” it said. “There is no chance that this operation ends with foot-dragging. There is no way that you don’t defeat Hamas in this operation.”
The new operation is titled Gideon’s Chariots II. It follows Gideon’s Chariots I, which was launched in May with the goal of occupying 75 percent of the Strip to coax Hamas into releasing hostages — an objective that was not met.
The Tikva Forum said there “must not be a Gideon’s Chariots III.”
“We have given our support from the beginning to overpower Hamas and thus to get the hostages released,” the Forum continued. “If that isn’t your intention, please don’t risk the soldiers.”
Addressing IDF soldiers, the Tikva Forum said, “We appreciate you, support you, and pray for your safe return, until Hamas is defeated and our loved ones come back.”
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 48 hostages, including 47 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 26 confirmed dead by the IDF. Twenty are believed to be alive, and there are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, Israeli officials have said. Among the bodies held by Hamas is an IDF soldier killed in Gaza in 2014.
Hamas released 30 hostages — 20 Israeli civilians, five soldiers, and five Thai nationals — and the bodies of eight slain Israeli captives during a ceasefire between January and March 2024, and one additional hostage, a dual American-Israeli citizen, in May 2024 as a “gesture” to the United States. The terror group freed 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November 2023, and four hostages were released before that in the early weeks of the war. In exchange, Israel has freed some 2,000 jailed Palestinian terrorists, security prisoners, and Gazan terror suspects detained during the war.
Eight hostages have been rescued from captivity by troops alive, and the bodies of 51 have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors, and the body of another soldier who was killed in 2014.