Hundreds of people rallied in Washington on Wednesday in a call to return the hostages in an event marking 500 days since the October 7 massacre and the beginning of the war.
Among those in attendance were former hostages Noa Argamani and Ilana Gritzewesky, in addition to Gal, the brother of hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal, and Moshe Miran, brother-in-law of hostage Omri Miran.
"We need to bring our hostages home," Argamani, who was kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival along with her partner Avinatan Or, said. Aramagni was rescued from Hamas captivity in June.
The 27-year-old shared her experience of being in captivity, noting, "I remember that I counted every single day, and I didn't know when there would be a release."
She noted that her partner, Or, who is still being held in Gaza captivity, was not "included in the first stage" of the hostage-ceasefire deal.
"We don't know anything about the second stage; we don't know what is going to be, who is included, who is alive or not," Argamani said, adding, "We must go to the second stage to bring all the hostages back home."
'I will continue to fight'
Gritzewesky, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz along with her partner Matan Zangauker, who is still held in captivity, stated, "Every day, I asked myself how can you live not knowing if the people you love are still alive?"
"How can you stay sane when you're so far from them, unable to help them?" she added.
"I will continue to fight for Matan and all the hostages until they are home," Gritzewesky said.
Argamani was rescued from captivity by the IDF in Operation Arnon on June 8, 2024, after 245 days in captivity alongside Almog Meir Jan (21), Andrey Kozlov (27), and Shlomi Ziv (40).
Gritzewesky was released from captivity as part of the November 2023 hostage deal after 55 days in captivity.