After the strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar, and continued operations in Gaza City, hostage families call for comprehensive deal

Large crowds again gathered in Tel Aviv and in other cities across the nation on Saturday evening to protest for the Israeli government to make a hostage-ceasefire deal and return all the hostages, with many denouncing the government’s decision to strike at Hamas leaders in Qatar. 

The demonstrations had been called for by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum after the strike in Qatar. The continued push to take over Gaza City has caused concern among many of the hostage families. 

“We are currently witnessing yet another deliberate attempt to sabotage a hostage return agreement,” the forum said in an English-language statement released before the protests. 

“The occupation of Gaza and the continuation of this endless, purposeless war are bringing destruction upon the people of Israel,” the statement continued. “This is not a war to topple Hamas, but rather a war that threatens to topple Israeli society – and we will not allow this to happen!” 

Former hostage Sharon Alony Cunio, whose husband David remains in captivity in Gaza, spoke at the rally in Tel Aviv's Hostages' Square saying, “The negotiations have been cut off again, and this time with fire and columns of smoke.” 

“Any delay is life-threatening. I am not willing to be a widow because of hesitation or torpedoing,” Cunio stated. “I am not prepared to become another name in the list of victims of government obtuseness. I demand that the life of David be saved, and of all the living hostages, and that all the dead hostages be brought here now.” 

“I'm dying of fear. What's going on with him now?” Sharon Cunio asked. “What's going on with them now? Do they know that their government, the one that abandoned them on October 7, has decided to give up on them? Did they hear Minister Ben Gvir's words, who boasted that he was leaving them there, in the tunnels, in the dark? I pray not.” 

Fourteen-year-old Alma Or, daughter of the deceased hostage Dror, who was also kidnapped to Gaza, following her parents' death, spoke at the rally, calling for all the hostages to be returned. 

"When I returned, I discovered that my mother had been murdered, and that my father was missing, and we didn't know if he was alive or not,” Alma related. “I held onto hope that he was alive, and on day 208 of the war, I learned that my father was murdered on October 7 and then kidnapped.” 

“My life has changed completely since October 7 – some things can no longer be changed,” Or told the crowd. ‘But bringing my father back to the burial he so deserves is still possible! The fallen hostages must return so that we can all recover from that day.” 

“A girl should not have to beg for her father’s remains,” Alma said, stating that “October 7 has to end. Everyone must come back, in a deal, now.” 

Einav Zangauker, the mother of the hostage Matan, released a statement before the protests, saying, “Netanyahu will blow up everything that leads to an end to the war – including the hostages themselves.” 

“This week we witnessed the prime minister's glorious failure, when he took a gamble on the lives of the hostages and tried to eliminate the Hamas negotiating team while they were discussing a deal to release my son," Zangauker said. 

“President Trump said yesterday that every time there is progress in the negotiations, Netanyahu bombs someone,” Zangauker said, quoting an anonymous source who spoke to Politico last week. “But he didn't try to bomb the Hamas leaders, but the chance for us, the families, to get our loved ones back.” 

Zangauker also said that if Netanyahu “had listened to the head of the Mossad, the head of the National Security Council, the Chief of Staff and the negotiating team – he could have avoided this failure, and not blown up the deal.” 

She also accused Netanyahu of sending IDF soldiers in Gaza  “into death traps.”

Former hostage Keith Siegel addressed Netanyahu from the rally stage, saying, “Don't let foreign considerations blind your heart, don't allow the complex reality to obscure what is clear to all of us: We must return them. Now.” 

“This is not just an emotional duty, not just a moral duty,” Keith said. “It’s a Jewish, national, and human duty.” 

Siegel also spoke directly to U.S. President Donald Trump, urging him to “act now.” 

“President Trump, you saved my life. But the mission is not finished. Your deal is on the table," Siegel said. "You have the power to make it happen. I urge you: act now. Do not wait. Do not allow more days to be lost in the tunnels.”