‘We don’t want them back in bags’: Israelis urge government to ‘act now’ over hostages
Waving placards and flags thousands arrived to protest what they see as government inaction over the plight of the hostages.
There’s disbelief also at what has happened – Israelis are still trying to process this new tragedy.
But there is also a deep vein of anger at the government. They say the hostages are being left in mortal danger and the longer the bombs keep falling the greater the chance of more being killed.
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People came from across Israel to take part in the “Time is running out” rally in Tel Aviv. They arrived to show their solidarity with the hostages and their families. What they want is for the government to put the lives of the captives first – that means negotiating their release must take priority over military objectives.
Some of the protesters carried hourglasses to represent time slipping away.
It has been 70 days since they were taken and in the shadow of the IDF headquarters, families demanded the government act quickly.
Ruby Chen, father of hostage Itay Chen, said the families needed concrete proposals from the war cabinet on how to get their loved ones back.
“We are demanding that the war cabinet talk to us, to the families, and explain not that they’re waiting to get an offer from the United States, Qatar, or from anyone else, no,” he said.
“The Israeli government needs to be active, they need to put an offer on the table including prisoners with blood on their hands, and put the best offer on the table to get the hostages back alive. Alive.
“We don’t want them back in bags. That requires them to act now.”
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The relatives of those still being held captive say they feel trapped in a slow-motion nightmare.
Yair Moses’ 79-year-old father was kidnapped from the Nir Oz kibbutz. He doesn’t blame the army but says a ceasefire and negotiations are the only solution.
Yair Moses
“This is what we’ve been shouting for a long time now – the army activities are important, but they are not the way to release them and they make them in danger. And this is what we realised. The soldiers are poor, they were doing whatever they can. They’re doing their best.
“But it’s not the soldier’s decision, it’s a government decision that needs to be changed.”
And new details are emerging of how the three hostages were killed. An early IDF investigation has found the men were waving a white flag and were shirtless when the soldiers opened fire in Northern Gaza.
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‘He was kidnapped at nine months old’
The trauma of 7 October remains a source of constant pain here – the Israeli Prime Minister described the deaths as an unbearable tragedy.
In hostage square, they will continue to hold vigils in the dark days ahead and sing the nation’s songs until all of those still held captive in Gaza are brought back home.
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
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More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
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Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
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