The families of Rom Braslavski and Edan Alexander sat outside the Prime Minister’s Office Thursday, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ensure that the hostage deal continues and that all the hostages are brought home.
Braslavski’s father, Ofir, called on the public to join him in standing outside the PMO in a statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Jerusalem.
“Four hundred and seventy-five days have gone by, and my Rom is still not home. He is waiting. We are waiting,” Ofir said.
“But now there is light at the end of the tunnel; kids are starting to come home. We are so close, but the journey is not over.”
“We must not let this end here. We must go on to the next stage; we must bring everyone back,” he added.
“Keep going, keep pushing, bring back the hope. Rom and all the hostages need you. Come stand by my side, stand for them.”
Braslavski, a 21-year-old, was taken captive from the Nova festival while working as a security guard. Just 19 when he was taken captive, Braslavski has marked two birthdays while in captivity.
He is not on the list of hostages slated to be released in the first stage of the ongoing hostage deal.
Varda Ben Baruch, grandmother of Alexander, joined Ofir Thursday, standing outside the PMO and calling for the deal to continue to its next stages.
“Edani, my dear and beloved grandson, is coming soon, there is light at the end of the tunnel,” she said.
“You will walk by this light and come home. We will meet, we will hug, and we won’t let go. You were born to be free.”
Alexander is a 21-year-old New Jersey-born dual Israeli citizen who was serving with the Golani Brigade as a lone soldier on the Gaza border when he was abducted on October 7.
Hamas released a video of Alexander in December. He is also not on the list of 33 hostages set to be released in stage one.
Sylvia Cunio, whose sons David and Ariel were taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz and are still being held captive, stood outside the PMO on Wednesday.
'Joy and excitement'
“We saw the girls come home this week, and our hearts were filled with joy and excitement, but I am very worried that the deal will not continue and my boys will stay behind,” she said in a call to the public to join her.
David was abducted along with his wife, Sharon Aloni-Cunio, and their three-year-old twin daughters, Emma and Yuli. Sharon and the twins were released in the November hostage deal.
Ariel was taken hostage along with his girlfriend, Arbel Yehoud, who is on the list of 33 to be released in stage one.
Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is still held in Gaza and who is not set to be released in the first stage of the deal, also called on Thursday for the deal to continue until all the hostages are home.
Zangauker touched on media reports indicating that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is working to prevent the war from ending and to keep the deal from being completed.
“We, the families, will fall victim once again to dirty campaigns and attempts, and for what?” she asked.
“So that my Matan and around 60 other Israelis will be abandoned forever in the tunnels.”
Zangauker called on Netanyahu to “go out today to the public and commit to the war ending and the deal being carried out in full – to bringing everyone back.”
Hannah Sarisohn and Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.