Hostage rallies press Trump, Netanyahu to not let deal fall apart before all go free

Israelis rallied on behalf of hostages held in the Gaza Strip Saturday as they whiplashed between jubilation for three more captives released hours earlier and worries for the fates of dozens yet to be released from hellish, subhuman conditions.

With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington this week, both the main hostage rally and a weekly protest featured appeals from relatives of hostages thanking the American leader and demanding that the Israeli premier not allow pressure from far-right political allies to scuttle the ceasefire and hostage release deal reached with Gaza’s Hamas terror group.

“Today we were filled with joy and hope to see families reunited,” Romi Cohen, twin sister of hostage soldier Nimrod Cohen told the Hostage Square gathering. “This was only possible because of the deal, it is the result of a massive 15-month effort by everyone, especially President Trump and the negotiating team.”

“Keep fighting,” she urged the crowd. “Don’t let the deal collapse before everyone comes home.”

Hamas has so far released 18 hostages — civilians, soldiers and Thai nationals — during a ceasefire that began on January 19, including three men freed on Saturday: Keith Siegel, Ofer Calderon and Yarden Bibas.

Seventy-six 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.

Plans are in place for the release of at least 20 more hostages under the first phase of the deal, but negotiations for the release of the rest under future stages are only set to begin this week.

Netanyahu, facing pressure from right-wing allies to end the ceasefire and resume battling Hamas, has reportedly asked the Israel Defense Forces to draw up plans for restarting the 15-month-old war, Channel 13 news said Saturday.

At an anti-government protest for the hostages outside Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv, relatives of hostages accused Netanyahu of already laying the groundwork to torpedo the deal but spin the move so Hamas is blamed.

“Netanyahu and his associates haven’t stopped trying to sabotage the deal,” charged Dani Elgarat, brother of hostage Itzik Elgarat, who is slated to be released sometime in the first stage.

“You all are war-mongering and ready to sacrifice the hostages left behind for criminal politics,” he added. “You won’t be allowed to.”

The stability of the deal is expected to be high on the agenda when Netanyahu meets Trump for a breakfast meeting on Tuesday, becoming the first foreign leader to call on the US president since he was reinstalled in the White House last month. Despite not yet being in office, Trump and members of his transition team were credited with playing a key role in pushing the elusive ceasefire deal over the finish line after 15 months of stops and starts.

The Gaza war was triggered on October 7, 2023, when some 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists burst into Israel, killing some 1,200 people, amid rampant acts of brutality and overt targeting of civilians. During the attack, 251 people were abducted into Gaza.

A truce in late November 2023 saw 105 civilians released, but the agreement collapsed after a week.

“If it hadn’t been for President Trump,” the three men released Saturday “would not be here,” Yifat Zailer told the protest, demanding that “extremists” not be allowed to torpedo the deal.

Nimrod Cohen’s father Yehuda addressed Trump from the dais at the Tel Aviv protest, warning that “Netanyahu is going to try to spin you like he spun Biden. Don’t let him.”

Speaking publicly for the first time since she was among the first released on January 19, former hostage Doron Steinbrecher vowed to personally keep pushing for those remaining in Gaza.

“We’ll do, I’ll do, all I can until all are home and we can close this circle, and we’re together in this until the end,” Steinbrecher said in a pre-recorded message broadcast to the Hostage Square rally, which she promised to join in person as soon as she could.

“The last time I recorded a video was the propaganda film for Hamas,” she said. “This time, I’m sitting on a couch, comfortably, with my family looking at me.”

She credited the gathering, an event held every week since the attack over 480 days earlier, with playing a part in her freedom.

“I’m okay, and I’m here because of you and I’m okay,” she said, clasping her hands.

At the same time as the protest was underway, former hostage Karina Ariev published her first Instagram post since her release from Hamas captivity a week ago, thanking the soldiers fighting in Gaza and calling for the release of all the abductees.

“I was held in Hamas captivity for a year and five months. Today, thank God, I am home, in Israel,” wrote Ariev, a surveillance soldier who was kidnapped from the IDF’s Nahal Oz base.

“From now on, my personal journey, besides rehabilitation and returning to daily life, will include memorialization of my soldier friends, my commanders, colleagues and fighters who fell in the battle in the post where I served — Nahal Oz,”  she said.

Fifteen surveillance soldiers were killed and seven were taken hostage to Gaza in the attack. One of those hostages was recovered dead after she was murdered in captivity, another was rescued alive, and the remaining five, including Ariev, were released over the past week.

“I will fight for truth and justice alongside the families,” Ariev wrote. “I was there — we mustn’t leave anyone behind. I won’t rest until all are in Israel.

She said she was still trying to absorb the fact that she has become a well-known figure in Israel and abroad, and that she has started to try and catch up on all that has happened since she was abducted.

Speaking on stage in Tel Aviv, Yair Mozes, the son of former hostage Gadi Mozes, said his octogenarian father was uplifted by the demonstrations when he learned of them from captivity.

“My father said he saw the protests and it strengthened him when he was down,” Mozes said, speaking days after his father’s Thursday release.

“This is a day that our family, Kibbutz Nir Oz and all our family have been waiting for,” added Mozes, his face clean-shaven. Mozes had refused to shave while his father was in captivity, and was seen reuniting with him Thursday while sporting a wild, bushy beard. “My heart is lighter and my head and face as well,” he told the crowd.

The rollercoaster of joy for those already and fear for those still trapped was underlined by several mothers who told the Hostage Square rally of the interminable wait for the return of their loved ones.

“I can’t wait for that hug, the hug of a mother, when will it be my turn too?” asked Vicky Cohen, Nimrod Cohen’s mother, who said it had been amazing to see the reunions of recent weeks. “I’m waiting and waiting.”

Both Cohen and Idit Ohel, mother of hostage Alon Ohel, appealed directly to their children to stay strong, promising they would not be abandoned.

“I dream about the moment when I’ll hug you again,” said Ohel. “I can already the Shabbat table with you at it.”