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ISRAEL’S HOSTAGE PROTEST MOVEMENT FINALLY PREVAILS — AGAINST ITS
GOVERNMENT  
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Oren Ziv
October 14, 2025
+972 Magazine
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_ As those who fought for their release celebrate, the government
seeks to recast itself as the hostages’ savior despite abandoning
them for two years. _

Einav Zangauker, mother of the hostage Matan Zangauker, celebrates
the ceasefire agreement at Hostages Square, Tel Aviv, October 9,
2025., (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

 

The mood in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square on Monday morning was one of
total jubilation as tens of thousands gathered to watch a live
broadcast of 20 Israelis returning home from captivity in Gaza. Many
of those in the crowd had participated in protests in the same square
over the past two years, which gave it its name. This was the moment
they had fought for and dreamed about for so long.

Each time news flashed up on the big screen that a hostage had been
handed over to the Red Cross or passed into Israeli territory, the
crowd erupted in cheers. Some cried, while others sang and danced. One
group popped open a bottle of champagne.

Protests in support of a hostage deal, led by the families of hostages
themselves, have been a constant feature of Israel’s wartime
landscape
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numbers and intensity waxing and waning with developments in Gaza.
Some among the crowd had blocked roads, earning them beatings by
police
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of the government
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Others had protested silently in front of ministers’ homes. Others
still went on hunger strike or held small vigils in cities and towns
across the country.

“This is so emotional,” said Sheli Bar-Nir, 34, from Tel Aviv, who
stood in the front row at Hostages Square. “We’ve been fighting
for this for over two years, and it’s finally happening. They’re
finally coming home.” 

“We played a huge part in this — showing up to protest was a big
deal,” she continued. “Trump saw it and gave the final push, and
that’s why we’re here today. We’ll keep showing up until the
last hostage is home,” she added, in reference to the fact that
Hamas is yet to hand over the remains of two dozen hostages who died
in captivity.

[Thousands gather at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv to celebrate the
release of the remaining hostages from Hamas captivity, October 13,
2025. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)]
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Thousands gather at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv to celebrate the
release of the remaining hostages from Hamas captivity, October 13,
2025. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
Thousands gather at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv to celebrate the
release of the remaining hostages from Hamas captivity, October 13,
2025. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

One of the morning’s most emotional moments came when the crowd
heard a phone call between the hostage Matan Zangauker and his mother
Einav — a figurehead of the protest movement — just before he was
released by Hamas. “There’s no more war, Matan,” Einav told him.
“You won’t believe it, my love. Gaza will be okay. There’s no
more war. Matan, you’re coming home. Everyone is coming home.”

While the hostage protests throughout the past two years largely
avoided mentioning what Israel has inflicted on Gaza and its
Palestinian residents, it was noteworthy that Einav made a point of
saying, “Gaza will be okay.” This perhaps reflected her
understanding, shared among a particular wing of the protest movement,
that the fate of the hostages was intertwined with Gaza’s. The
continued annihilation of the Strip and ethnic cleansing of
Palestinians
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have likely led to the death of her son.

Einav had broken away from the official Hostages and Missing Families
Forum as early as winter 2024, frustrated with its apolitical stance
and reluctance to criticize the Israeli government directly for
its blatant torpedoing
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ceasefire negotiations. She and several other families of hostages
launched the more confrontational weekly demonstrations
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the opposite side of Israel’s military headquarters, which took the
name of the street they demonstrated on, “Begin.” Routinely
blocking traffic and setting fires on highways, this group directed
their ire at Netanyahu and his government for obstructing a deal that
would release their loved ones.

In return, they endured incitement from government officials who
labeled them “Hamas supporters” and accused them of “raising the
price” that the militant group will demand in negotiations. Police
and pro-government thugs were sent to beat them up and try to crush
their protests.

But beyond the violence and incitement they faced, the movement’s
biggest challenge was confronting the desire of the Israeli government
to continue the war indefinitely
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Netanyahu, his allies, and the army pushed the narrative that only
continued military pressure — more destruction in Gaza, and more
killing of Palestinians — would force Hamas to return the hostages.
In practice, this served as justification for genocide.

Although there was always a broad consensus among the Israeli public
in support of getting the hostages back home, the Begin movement was
in a minority in insisting that this would only be possible by ending
the war. As time went on, this position proved increasingly
justified: at least 41 hostages
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or were killed in captivity, some at the hands of Hamas
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direct result of the Israeli army’s own bombs
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whereas military operations rescued only a handful alive.

[Family and friends of Israeli hostage Nimrod Cohen watch his release
from Hamas captivity, Tel Aviv, October 13, 2025. (Dor
Pazuelo/Flash90)]
[[link removed]] Family
and friends of Israeli hostage Nimrod Cohen watch his release from
Hamas captivity, Tel Aviv, October 13, 2025. (Dor Pazuelo/Flash90)
Family and friends of Israeli hostage Nimrod Cohen watch his release
from Hamas captivity, Tel Aviv, October 13, 2025. (Dor
Pazuelo/Flash90)

While gratitude for the Israeli government for finally agreeing to a
complete hostage deal was in short supply, appreciation for the Trump
administration has been ubiquitous ever since the agreement was
announced last week. Many of those celebrating on Monday arrived with
American flags, while some came dressed up as Trump. The prevailing
sentiment was that without U.S. intervention, Netanyahu would have
continued dragging out the war indefinitely.

Hundreds of thousands had also gathered in Hostages Square on Saturday
night, where U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s daughter
Ivanka, and her husband Jared Kushner — who was also involved in the
negotiations — were greeted with applause (Netanyahu, whose criminal
trial is ongoing in a court adjacent to the square, has never visited
the site). When Witkoff tried to thank Netanyahu, the crowd erupted in
boos before he could finish his sentence.

For the protesters, Trump, a figure they had directly appealed to in
their protests, even before his re-election, was the one who saved
them, not Netanyahu. This belief was validated when, during
Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, Trump made clear that he had been
paying attention: “They have signs with my name on them, and they
love me, and they are asking for two things: Please bring back the
hostages and end the war.”

Kushner was the only one on stage who mentioned the “civilians in
Gaza” and acknowledged their suffering — though he quickly pivoted
to praise Israeli soldiers and claimed Israel had not “mirrored the
enemy’s barbarism.”

No going back to ‘normal’

By Monday afternoon, helicopters carrying the hostages began landing
at hospitals in central Israel. At Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan,
Ziv Berman was seen waving from a helicopter before later embracing
his brother Gali, who had also been held captive in Gaza but by a
separate group of Hamas fighters.

For many Israelis, especially those on the center-left, the return of
the hostages represents closure. Their kidnapping — and more
importantly, their prolonged abandonment — contradicted the values
they were raised on, especially the Jewish religious duty of redeeming
captives. For them, the government’s failure to bring the hostages
home sooner was a betrayal of the state’s basic social contract to
protect its citizens. 

As a result of their return, many now feel they can finally breathe.
The issue of the hostages consumed them daily for two years, making it
emotionally difficult to lead normal lives. On Monday, some began
calling Hostages Square by a new name, Returnees Square, marking the
end of a dark chapter.

[Evyatar David arrives at Beilinson Hospital in Israel after being
released from Hamas captivity, October 13, 2025. (Yossi
Aloni/Flash90)]
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Evyatar David arrives at Beilinson Hospital in Israel after being
released from Hamas captivity, October 13, 2025. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

Evyatar David arrives at Beilinson Hospital in Israel after being
released from Hamas captivity, October 13, 2025. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

The government, too, is hoping to move on from this chapter — and
from its own responsibility for the security failures that led to the
kidnappings — as soon as possible. In the days leading up to
Trump’s visit, Transportation Minister Miri Regev sent municipal
workers to hang U.S. and Israeli flags alongside roads and, at the
same time, remove posters calling for the hostages’ return. She also
ordered the removal of the burned-out cars that had been brought from
the south by anti-government activists and placed along main highways
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commemorate October 7. 

Many now hope for a return to normalcy. But there are serious
obstacles to that hope — chief among which is the catastrophe Israel
has wrought in Gaza. Israeli society, aided by the mainstream media
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largely managed to ignore the genocide and the dire humanitarian
situation created by Israel’s onslaught. Even after two years, most
Israelis are wilfully unaware of the full extent of Israel’s crimes
in the Strip. Others do know and blame it all on Hamas
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They now hope Israel’s international isolation will fade, that
solidarity protests with Palestine will cease, and that everything can
go back to how it was on Oct. 6, 2023. But that seems unlikely. When
Gaza will be reopened to international media in the near future,
reports of the horrors committed there will continue making headlines.
And the millions around the world who have been horrified by the daily
massacres will not forgive or forget in a hurry.

Some of the hostages released in previous ceasefires tried to warn the
Israeli public about Gaza’s condition, revealing in interviews
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their greatest fear in captivity was not their captors but the Israeli
army’s airstrikes that threatened their lives. Small groups of
radical left-wing activists also tried to break the wall of denial,
regularly holding photos of Palestinian children
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in Gaza on the sidelines of hostage protests, or demonstrating at the
fence encaging the Strip. They, too, were met with violence from both
police and the right-wing public.

But even internally, Israel will struggle to return to “normal”
after two years of war. Over 450 soldiers were killed in Gaza, on top
of the 1,200 soldiers and civilians killed on October 7. Many
thousands more are severely traumatized. Evacuees in the south and
north have yet to return to their homes. Kibbutzim attacked on October
7 have seen little real rebuilding. 

Among those celebrating this week were ministers and other Knesset
members, as well as parts of the broader national-religious right
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who for two years were willing to sacrifice the hostages on the altar
of “total victory” — in other words, the annihilation of Gaza.
They are now hoping to ride the wave of public euphoria to erase
October 7 and recast themselves as the saviors rather than the
forsakers. 

But these efforts appear doomed to failure. Calls from the public and
the opposition in Knesset for an official state commission of inquiry
to independently investigate the failures of October 7 will only grow
louder with the ceasefire. The boos at the mere mention of
Netanyahu’s name on Saturday night are just the beginning.

_Oren Ziv is a photojournalist, reporter for Local Call, and a
founding member of the Activestills photography collective._

* Israel-Gaza War
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* Ceasefire
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* hostage deal
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