Hostages and Missing Families Forum
Calls to free the captives once united Israelis, but as the war dragged on, weekly protests in Tel Aviv morphed into bitter political battlegrounds.
Hamas “knows the location of every hostage and is using this information as a bargaining chip,” the NGO said.
Members of the delegation stressed that their mission would continue until the remains of the last captive are returned home for burial.
Alon Ohel, who partially lost his sight when he was abducted on Oct. 7, 2023, played a song on the piano which became synonymous with the campaign to free him.
After their bodies were returned and identified, slain Israeli hostages Amiram Cooper, 84, and Sahar Baruch, 25, were buried alongside family members.
Col. Asaf Hamami, Capt. Omer Maxim Neutra and Sgt. Oz Daniel were named as the deceased captives brought back from Gaza for burial.
“In my conversations with them, one request kept repeating, touching and heartfelt: that we maintain unity. That we not allow disputes to dismantle what held us together in the most difficult moments,” the president wrote.
Friends, family and officials gathered near Ben-Gurion Airport to honor the agricultural student slain by Hamas in Gaza.
The dual British-Israeli citizen and survivor of Hamas captivity called the decision “outrageous” and “blatant antisemitism.”
The terror group returned the bodies of Inbar Hayman and Sgt. Maj. Muhammad Al‑Atresh, leaving 19 bodies still to be returned.
Addressing the Trump team at his son’s funeral, Rabbi Doron Perez said, “We are all forever grateful.”
“It’s official. There are no more living Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity,” the IDF stated.
