Thousands of Israelis on Saturday rallied in Tel Aviv to demand urgent government action to bring home hostages held in Gaza, after the bodies of several were retrieved.
Protesters observed a minute’s silence in Tel Aviv’s “Hostages Square” in honor of the captives whose bodies were recovered by Israeli troops this month, a correspondent reported.
The army on Friday said that troops had retrieved the bodies of three hostages in an overnight operation in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.
Photo: AFP
The remains of Chanan Yablonka, Brazilian-Israeli Michel Nisenbaum and French-Mexican Orion Hernandez Radoux “were rescued” and their families notified after forensic identification, the military said in a statement.
“In just a few hours, I will bury my 42-year-old brother... I feared this moment,” Yablonka’s sister Avivit said at the rally.
“My brother, I promise you that I will continue to shout, support, fight and do everything so that all the hostages return home safely,” she said. “They must be taken out of this hell now.”
The bodies of four other hostages, Ron Benjamin, Yitzhak Gelerenter, Shani Louk and Amit Buskila, were recovered last week.
Another protest, calling for the resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and an early election, was held nearby.
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