An estimated total of 30,000 supporters and family members of hostages completed the march.
By World Israel News Staff
By the fifth day of the march of families of hostages from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the total number of people headed toward the Prime Minister’s office was 30,000, as reported by Channel 12 news.
The families of those captured on October 7th pleaded with ministers to meet with them and said they felt their government has neglected them.
However, they expressed gratitude for the thousands of supporters who provided them with food, drink, and shelter along the way.
With the police blocking off sections of the highway, the families marched with pictures of their captured family members and waved Israeli flags.
Yuval Haran, whose seven family members are hostages in Gaza, shouted, “Hear our shout. Bring them back home now. “How can you put a price on a three-year old girl? We need them back now, at any price.”
Among the many who joined the protesters on their journey was the German ambassador to Israel, Steffen Siebert. He spoke to the crowd holding a megaphone,” “We work for this on all political and diplomatic levels and we just ask you to keep the hope alive,” he said, speaking through a megaphone. “In our hearts and our minds we are with you.”
As the crowd passed the ultra-orthodox town of Kiryat Yearim, just outside of Jerusalem, hundreds of residents greeted them with yellow balloons that said, “Bring them home.”
In Jerusalem, they met with Opposition leader Yair Lapid, and upon returning to Tel Aviv, with war cabinet Minister Benny Gantz and cabinet observer Minister Gadi Eisenkot. On Monday, the families have meetings scheduled with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Eisenkot has told the families, “The return of the hostages is the supreme priority [of the war], before the destruction of Hamas.” This is the first time a cabinet member has expressed this sentiment.
Gantz reportedly said to the families, “The entire cabinet feels that military pressure helps (to the aim of) returning the hostages.”
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