Dozens of former hostages and more than 250 family members of those still held captive by Hamas signed a letter on Friday calling for an immediate halt to the fighting and a return to the negotiating table – even at the cost of ending the war entirely.
Among the signatories were Gadi Moses, Keith Siegal, Ofer Kalderon, Eliya Cohen, Liri Albag, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Agam Berger, Karina Ariev, Arbel Yehud, Ohad and Raz Ben Ami, and their daughters, Yuli, Ella and Natalie.
“This letter is written in blood and tears,” the signatories wrote. “It was composed by our friends – families whose loved ones were killed and murdered in captivity – who are crying out: ‘Stop the fighting, return to the negotiating table, and fully implement an agreement that will bring back all the hostages, even at the cost of ending the war. Military pressure endangers them, and nothing is more urgent than bringing them all home.”
They added: “We all support this: those who returned from captivity and endured the horrors, the families of those still in Gaza who live in terror, those reunited with loved ones, and those who had to bury theirs – knowing they could have been saved. Together, we say: enough. Military pressure kills living hostages and buries the fallen. This is not a slogan – it is reality. 41 hostages paid with their lives. We, their families, paid the prices. They could have returned to embrace and rehabilitation – and now they will not.”
The letter included a scathing critique of the government’s conduct, stating: “The Israeli government is choosing endless war over the rescue and return of the hostages, and is thus sacrificing them to their deaths. This is a criminal policy – you do not have a mandate to sacrifice 59 hostages.”
IDF’s return to fighting
The IDF returned to fighting late Monday night, around 2 a.m., by conducting dozens of extensive air strikes specifically on mid-level Hamas commanders and some senior Hamas political officials in Gaza. It was unclear if they were targeting senior Hamas commanders like Mohammed Sinwar, who might be holding Israeli hostages nearby.
Nearly eight hours after the IDF renewed the strikes, Hamas hasn’t managed to fire a single rocket into Israel.
At around 8 a.m. on Tuesday morning, IDF Arabic Spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee sent out a message to Gaza residents to move further into Gaza, away from the border with Israel, to avoid being attacked as part of the renewed hostilities.
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