Thousands of anti-government demonstrators rallied for a hostage deal in Gaza in Tel Aviv and other locations Saturday night, energized by fresh momentum toward an internationally mediated agreement and a video showing a captive whose mother has become a leading voice within the protest movement.
With on-and-off negotiations with the Hamas terror group poised to restart following the successful brokering of a ceasefire in Lebanon and pressure from US President-elect Donald Trump, Einav Zangauker implored Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike a deal with the terror group to ensure the release of her son Matan Zangauker and the rest of the remaining hostages.
“The fact that Matan is alive doesn’t mean he will survive the winter or the continuation of the military campaign. The way to bring Matan and everyone home is only through a deal,” she said in a statement to the press.
The propaganda video released by Hamas Saturday was the first sign of life from the 25-year-old Zangauker since he was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz during Hamas’s southern Israel onslaught on October 7 last year.
The three-and-a-half-minute-long video is not dated, though Zangauker states that he has been held for over 420 days, indicating it was filmed recently.
In the clip, Zangauker identifies himself and calls on the Israeli public to continue protests in support of a deal with Hamas.
Hostage Matan Zangauker speaks in a Hamas propaganda video issued on December 7, 2024. (Hamas via Telegram)
“My heroic son has survived in captivity against all odds, but the sign of life from Matan proves that he will not survive much longer — and the hostages are in imminent danger,” Einav Zangauker said.
Hamas has previously issued similar videos of hostages the terror group is holding, in what Israel says is a form of psychological warfare.
Addressing her son at a protest in Tel Aviv, Zangauker called out Netanyahu’s far right coalition allies, who have sought to block a hostage deal that includes a ceasefire in Gaza. “I won’t let anyone deprive me of your embrace — not the prime minister, not [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben Gvir, and not [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich,” she said.
Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, addresses the media in Tel Aviv on December 7, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
A former Likud supporter, Zangauker has transformed into one of government’s most potent critics, accusing Netanyahu and others of refusing to agree to a deal for political reasons as her son wastes away in Gaza.
Netanyahu’s office said in a statement Saturday night that the prime minister had spoken with Zangauker and told her that he “fully understands the severe suffering that Matan and all the hostages and their families are going through.”
The prime minister told Zangauker that Israel is working to “take advantage of every opportunity that arises to advance negotiations” and vowed to do everything to bring Matan and the rest of the hostages home, his office said.
Matan’s girlfriend, Ilana Gritzewsky, who was kidnapped with him but released during a weeklong ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas in November 2023, told the anti-government rally in Tel Aviv that seeing the video brought back memories of her own abduction.
“When I see the video of Matan, I don’t just see him captive — I experience my own captivity again. I know what he’s going through, every moment, every minute. I know how it feels when you’re so far from the world, from family, from light. It’s being trapped in a nightmare that never ends,” Gritzewsky said.
Israelis attend a rally calling for the release of those held hostage by the Hamas terror group in Gaza, at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, December 7, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
The rally was one of the several held in central Tel Aviv Saturday night, including a second anti-government protest and a non-partisan demonstration for the hostages. Rallies for the hostages and against the government had been taking place weekly, but were put on hold for some two months due to restrictions on public gatherings, amid escalated fighting with Hezbollah which drew to a close late last month.
Police said five people were arrested during the protests for attacking an officer, breaking through police barriers, blocking Begin Road, and attempting to enter the Ayalon Highway.
Three minors were also detained but later released, said attorney and former Meretz MK Gabi Lasky, who is representing the protesters.
At so-called “Democracy Square,” at the intersection of Begin Road and Kaplan Street, what appeared to be over a thousand protesters, many carrying Israeli flags, crammed into an area cordoned off with trucks by police.
Police had approved a “Democracy March” to the intersection from Habima Square, but did not approve the protests at Democracy Square itself, saying turnout had been too low a week earlier to justify sealing off the junction.
Under a large banner reading “Crime Minister” next to a picture of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, protesters chanted: “There is no forgiveness for the enemy of the state! There is no forgiveness for the angel of death!”
Israelis protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the current government, in Tel Aviv, on December 7, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
A block north, another weekly protest drew hundreds outside the Israel Defense Forces headquarters, led by relatives of hostages opposed to the government and bolstered by left-wing activists. On the ground, large white cardboard letters spelled out: “Thou shalt not kill.”
In between the two protests, a group urging “civil rebellion” set up a “conscription booth” to enlist people willing to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience. For the second week running, the group held an explanatory session on disobedience tactics.
Meanwhile, in so-called Hostages Square, the central weekly rally led by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum drew some thousand protesters.
Speaking before the crowd, Amnon Shahar challenged Netanyahu on whether he ever thinks of his abducted granddaughter, Naama Levy, 20, “afraid, in some dank tunnel?”
“And then what, Bibi? Do you bottle it up? Do you tell yourself you have to ignore the suffering to save the people of Israel?” he continued. “Do you not feel the cold terror creeping into your heart, that you may be bringing about the end of the people of Israel in Zion?”
Shahar said Israel has secured a military victory in Gaza, but that the victory is meaningless while the hostages are there: “Make this victory complete.”
Amnon Shahar, the grandfather of captive soldier Naama Levy, speaks during a rally at ‘Hostages Square’ in Tel Aviv, December 7, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Tami Baruch, mother of slain hostage Sahar Baruch, 25, said the family should have marked his 26th Hebrew birthday today.
“Sahar was murdered in captivity when he was so young,” she said.
Baruch described her son as a compassionate soul, ever eager to share his love of fantasy literature with his younger brother. “Sahar, the boy with the long hair, donated his hair when he joined the army,” she said.
In between speeches, the crowd chanted: “You’re not alone! We’re with you!”
Later in the night, police used water cannons on some anti-government protesters who blocked traffic near the Savidor Center train station.
In addition to the demonstrations in Tel Aviv, protests were also held in Jerusalem, Beersheba, and Haifa, as well as in smaller communities and junctions across the country.
Israelis attend a rally calling for the release of those held hostage by the Hamas terror group in Gaza, at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, December 7, 2024. (Roi Boshi/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
The rallies came against the backdrop of reinvigorated efforts to reach a ceasefire deal after months of no progress in talks.
Israel has been fighting the Hamas terror group in Gaza since the October 7, 2023, attack in which some 1,200 people were killed and another 251 taken hostage in an unprecedented assault on southern Israel. Pressure for an end to the fighting has mounted both domestically and internationally, buoyed by threats from Trump of “hell to pay” if a deal is not clinched before he enters office on January 20.
On Saturday, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani confirmed his country would resume its role as a mediator in negotiations for a truce-hostage deal, citing “encouragement” from the incoming Trump administration.
A source close to Hamas negotiators told AFP Saturday that a new round of talks could “most likely” begin in the coming week in Cairo.
Netanyahu’s aides have broadcast increasing optimism about a new hostage deal proposal that they say Egypt crafted, according to Hebrew media reports.
It is believed that 96 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 38 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
