With public gatherings forbidden by the IDF Home Front Command during the ongoing war with Iran, hostage family members and their supporters feel worried, frustrated, and unable to rally and protest for their loved ones.

On Monday night, 300 people joined a virtual meeting of Mishmeret 101 (Shift 101), the silent, white-wearing protest group that revolves around hostage parents, meeting several times a week in front of government buildings as part of the struggle to bring the captives in Gaza home.

As the group, which first began gathering in November 2024, was unable to meet in person, it instead sent invitations to a Zoom gathering on Monday evening.

At the start of the meeting, one of the organizers let everyone know that if there were sirens warning of an incoming missile attack, the Zoom session would be concluded and postponed until Tuesday afternoon.

The attendees nodded, some of them already seated in their safe rooms and bomb shelters, bracing for what had become nightly Iranian missile attacks.

Most of the virtual meeting attendees wore white, among them family members of hostages and released captives, including Viki Cohen, mother of hostage Nimrod Cohen; Dvora Idan, whose son, Tsahi Idan, was killed in captivity; Lee Siegel, the brother of freed hostage Keith Siegel; Niva Wenkert, whose son, Omer Wenkert, was freedfrom captivity; and Maccabit Meyer, the aunt of hostages Ziv and Gali Berman.

“I feel like I’m climbing the walls at home,” said Meyer, who is a regular at the Shift 101 gatherings and other protests for the hostages. “I feel a sense of desperation without the ability to go out and fight for them.”

As the hostage family members spoke, dozens of attendees posted their comments of support in the Zoom chat.

One of the Mishmeret organizers offered a list of activities and actions that could offer support for the hostages and their families and were still currently possible.

The suggestions included printing the PDF of a sign that read, “The hostages don’t have a protected space,” and taking a photo while holding the sign in one’s shelter and then sharing it on social media.

Meyer, along with others, said the concern for their loved ones has only grown following the opening of another battlefront.

“They can’t crawl to any safe space, or hear what is happening,” said Meyer, adding that the family has been told the twin brothers are not held captive together after being taken hostage from their homes in the young adult neighborhood of Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, 2023.

Meyer shared a video made to illustrate the bond between her twin nephews, inspired by a now-familiar photo of the Berman brothers, created with photos taken by other twins and siblings.

Viki Cohen urged the government during the virtual meeting to end the war in Gaza and bring the hostages home, including her son Nimrod.

“You get the sense that the hostages are not a priority for most people,” said Cohen. “They’re not at the top of the list.”

The next day, on Tuesday morning, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum posted a copy of the Knesset’s daily memo, noting that it didn’t mention the 53 remaining hostages.

“The families of the hostages are shocked and outraged that the issue of bringing back their loved ones has ‘disappeared’ from the government’s agenda,” said the families in a statement.

The forum sent out an invitation to another Zoom meeting on Tuesday night for a conversation between hostage mother Ayelet Samerano, whose son Jonathan Samerano was killed and his body abducted to Gaza on October 7, and journalist Ben Shani.

“During this hour as well, the nation is with the hostages,” read the headline on the flyer.

Meanwhile, some of the hostage family members are among the nearly 200,000 Israelis currently stranded abroad, as Israel’s airports are closed due to the daily rocket barrages from Iran.

Cohen had told The Times of Israel that her husband and son were stuck in the US, where they had been meeting with politicians and community leaders in Washington, DC, and New York.

Ruby Chen, whose son, Itay Chen, a soldier, was killed and his body taken captive to Gaza on October 7, was also en route to Israel from the US when the IDF struck Iran.

Now he is stranded in Europe and trying to meet with politicians and local leaders in order to be as functional as possible, while his wife and younger son are sitting in their apartment’s reinforced room.

“Our topic has somehow been lost,” said Chen, speaking with The Times of Israel on Monday. “Suddenly, the media is talking about the third or fourth day of the war instead of day 619.”

Chen said it reminded him of Hadar Goldin, the soldier who was killed in Gaza in 2014 and whose body was abducted by Hamas.

“Everyone moved on, and I was also guilty of moving forward and not remembering that Hadar and Oron [Shaul] were left in Gaza,” he said. “Now it’s not two, it’s 53, and how is it possible, for the love of God, that the government of Israel can move on without doing anything about this?”

Chen, along with the other parents, believes that releasing the hostages should have been the ultimate goal, rather than dismantling Hamas in Gaza.

Now, however, he is hoping for the possibility of a larger ceasefire with Iran that could include the release of the remaining hostages.

“Netanyahu has this achievement with Iran, but it’s pushed the hostage situation from the daily conversation,” added Viki Cohen. “The media is just focused on the war with Iran.”