Family members of the 130 hostages still held captive in Gaza are growing increasingly desperate and taking matters into their own hands, disrupting government meetings and staging protests on highways to urge the Israeli government to prioritize securing the release of their loved ones from Hamas.
In interviews with the The Daily Beast, several family members of kidnapped Israelis expressed consternation that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not been able to secure a hostage deal for weeks. Many are concerned that their time is running out to secure their loved ones’ release—while they are still alive.
As families grow increasingly desperate, more disruptive actions are likely coming, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, the father of Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35, who has been held captive since October, told The Daily Beast.
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“It’s a necessity at this point. I’m going home in a couple of days back to Israel and I imagine you’ll be seeing me… interrupting meetings at the Knesset,” Dekel-Chen told The Daily Beast. “That’s almost a no-brainer because we have no choice.”
“We understand… and any sane person understands at this point, that every moment counts in order to get the hostages back alive and not in boxes,” he added.
Last weekend, a hunger striker joined families of hostages gathered outside Netanyahu’s residence in the coastal city of Caesarea, The Washington Post reported. On Monday, families stormed the Knesset, screaming for the hostages’ release.
On Wednesday, protesters called for “day of rage” demonstrations around the country, demanding the Israeli government draw up a hostage deal immediately. On Thursday, families of hostages blocked Ayalon highway.
In the early days of the war, several hostages’ families had expressed interest in letting the Israeli government run its course with its dual war aims of eliminating Hamas and securing the release of the hostages. But after more than 100 days with their loved one in captivity, families have begun to fear that time is running out.
Hamas has broadcast hostage deaths in captivity in recent days, raising alarm that others may not be safe for much longer as Hamas tries to ramp up pressure on Israel.
Some family members acknowledge that targeting Hamas is still an important goal. But the hostages must come first as their lives hang in the balance, Dekel-Chen said.
“Everyone understands the need in Israel—and I would hope decent people around the world understand—the need to destroy Hamas as a military and governing organization… there’s no argument about that,” Dekel-Chen told The Daily Beast. “But that need must not cause the sacrifice the second time around of these civilians who are brothers, fathers, neighbors, sons, in our case.”
And life awaits them. Many hostages are likely unaware if their own loved ones made it out alive from Oct. 7. Sagui’s then-pregnant wife and two children survived. And his wife, Avital, has since given birth to a baby girl. Her name, Shachar, means “dawn” in Hebrew.
Families of hostages blocking Ayalon highway in calls for their release.
Amir Terkel‘Disrupt Complacency’
For some, the repeated failure to prioritize the people held captive has become part of a larger pattern from Netanyahu’s camp emblematic of a dereliction of duty to the people of Israel.
“Netanyahu needs to recognize this is time for leadership on a historical level. And the contract that exists between the people of Israel to its government was broken on October 7… that needs to be fixed,” Ruby Chen, the father of Itay Chen, who has been held captive in Gaza, told The Daily Beast. “The future of the state of Israel cannot continue in a positive way without having that component of the hostages back home with their families.”
Dekel-Chen noted Netanyahu holds responsibility for getting the hostages taken in the first place.
“We were abandoned on October 7, by the army but more importantly the government, which is the responsible authority,” Dekel-Chen said. “We were abandoned, left to fend for ourselves. In our kibbutz specifically, the army never came, the terrorists were already gone by the time the army arrived.”
Some of the families’ recent actions in trying to rattle Israeli government officials were taken from the ground up, rather than carefully stage-managed, with families chiming in with brainstorming and planning on how to get the hostages released safely, Gillian Kaye, Sagui’s stepmother, told The Daily Beast.
Ayalon South blocked by the protestors.
Lior SegevIn WhatsApp texting group chats, families will offer up ideas and see what they can push forward, for instance.
For now, disruption is the modus operandi, to send a clear message to Netanyahu that the current approach is not tenable.
“The tactics are about disruption, and that’s what it is… to disrupt business as usual, to disrupt complacency,” Kaye said.
Touch and Go
Political momentum to prioritize the hostages has begun to pick up steam within Netanyahu’s War Cabinet. Earlier this month, Benny Gantz, a member of the War Cabinet, and Gadi Eisenkot, his deputy, expressed interest in Netanyahu pursuing hostage release plans over military attacks targeting Hamas.
Despite efforts from the United States and Qatar and Egypt, which have been heavily involved in mediating other deals, plans to establish a new truce and release more hostages have been stalled for weeks.
Liaisons are currently negotiating over the details of a possible one-month ceasefire, during which Hamas would exchange hostages as long as Palestinian prisoners are released from Israel, Reuters reported.
In Washington, D.C., some are working on an initiative to help save the hostages, according to Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who said last week he was working on a “new strategy.”
“We will persist together,” Sen. Schumer told hostages’ families on Capitol Hill last week, promising to do everything he can to bring the hostages home.
Some of the hostages’ families met with Schumer in a brainstorming session to discuss paths forward, Chen told The Daily Beast. Schumer had said at the time he would be taking at least one of the proposals to the administration, according to Chen.
“We came with a few ideas, some he liked, some he less liked,” Chen said, declining to share details
It was not clear what Schumer’s new “strategy” involves. Schumer’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
Last week, President Biden’s special envoy for hostage affairs, Roger Carstens, met with some hostage families as well. Families of hostages also met with Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser.
