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THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT’S plan to occupy Gaza City has been met with condemnation around the world and at home in Israel, where the families of hostages still held captive by Palestinian militant groups have accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of abandoning their loved ones.
After a meeting of Israel’s security cabinet that went on through last night, the prime minister’s office announced today that the Israeli military would “prepare to take control of Gaza City,” in spite of opposition from much of the public and senior military leaders.
Outside the prime minister’s office and across Israel last night, thousands of people gathered to protest the planned expansion of the campaign in the Gaza Strip.
They fear that an expansion of Israel’s campaign in Gaza will endanger the hostages who remain captive there and the soldiers tasked with carrying out the plan.
Among the protesters were people formerly held hostage in Gaza who were released during ceasefires between Israel and Hamas.
Sharon Cunio, whose husband David is still being held captive in Gaza, and Arbel Yehud were among the former hostages who attended the rally in Jerusalem.
Yehud’s partner Ariel – David Cunio’s brother – is also still in being held hostage, one of 49 captives still in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
Cunio and Yehud held a banner with photos of their partners that read: “Bring back our loved ones.”
Protesters also held images of emaciated hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, who featured in videos released by the Islamic Jihad and Hamas last week.
Today, the group that represents the families of people taken captive during the Hamas-led attack on Israel almost two years ago, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, said today that the government “is leading us toward a colossal catastrophe for both the hostages and our soldiers”.
“The cabinet chose last night to embark on another march of recklessness, on the backs of the hostages, the soldiers, and Israeli society as a whole,” the group said in a statement on X.
“We appeal to the Cabinet - escalating the fighting is a death sentence and immediate disappearance for our loved ones - look us in the eyes when you choose to sacrifice them.”
— Bring Them Home Now (@bringhomenow) August 7, 2025
Families of hostages and Hamas captivity survivors chained themselves in front of the Cabinet session:… pic.twitter.com/HYbmrwbhlf
The group said that Hamas “continues to exploit military escalation as justification for its brutal treatment of our loved ones” and that the hostages “don’t have any time left”.
“We can’t leave them in the hands of these monsters any longer.”
The forum insisted that the only way to retrieve the hostages is through negotiation and a ceasefire agreement.
“No more futile war. We will not stand by. We demand a comprehensive deal now!”
Roughly 250 people were taken hostage during the October 2023 attack on Israel that left almost 1,200 people dead.
Only a handful have actually been rescued by the Israeli military. The vast majority of those who have returned from Gaza were released as a result of negotiations.
With reporting from AFP
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