Families of Those Held Hostage Pressured Israel Govt to Agree to Truce Deal: Report – News18

The families of those held hostage by Hamas following the October 7 attacks on Israel waged an intense campaign and the two sets of hostages released on Friday and Saturday was largely due to their efforts, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Hamas released 14 hostages on Saturday and on Friday released 24 hostages out of which 13 were Israelis -all of whom were women and children, including some dual citizens – along with 10 Thais and one Filipino.

Israel in response released 39 women and children from its prisons. During a four-day truce, at least 50 hostages are expected to be freed. In exchange, at least 150 Palestinian prisoners are expected to be freed from Israeli prisons. The deal was finalised after weeks of talks involving Israel, Palestinian terrorist groups, Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

However, the families of those people who were being held hostage also waged a massive campaign to pressure the government.

The Bloomberg report cited efforts made by citizens like Avichai Brodutch (whose wife and three young children were abducted) and Dudi Zalmanovich, a powerful lawyer, and several others who set up pressure groups or protested individually to ensure that hostages become the top priority as they felt that their loved ones are in danger as Israeli bombardment of Gaza grew intense.

Hamas took over 240 people hostage on October 7 when it launched the deadliest attack in Israel’s history killing about 1,200 people. Israel in response has bombarded Gaza and nearly 15,000 people, 6,150 of them children, have been killed in the war.

The families of those held also took help from former spy and security chiefs, celebrities and film directors and mounted a massive campaign spanning several major cities worldwide to ensure hostages return home.

A ‘hostage square’ was set up in Tel Aviv, hostage photos cropped up on every corner as well as in New York’s Times Square and other cities and kin of the captives took out a four day march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem joined by thousands, disrupting traffic, which forced the government to refocus on ensuring safe release of the hostages.

Dual nationals met with the respective heads of state of the country they hold a passport of to gather international support. Gili Roman, whose sister Yarden holds a German passport and is believed to be held in Gaza, went to Berlin and met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to discuss how to ensure her sister’s safe return.