Hostage families left ‘helpless’ after Israel shatters ceasefire
Einav Zangauker crawls under the barbed wire barrier near the border fence with Gaza, protesting the resumption of Israel’s war,
Amos Brison and Oren Ziv report in +972 21 March 2025
A few hours after Israel abruptly shattered the ceasefire in Gaza, members of the Sha’ar Begin hostage families group woke up in their tents near one of the entrances to the Israeli military headquarters. For the past 10 days, they had been camping at the location in central Tel Aviv as part of what Einav Zangauker, the group’s unofficial figurehead and mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, called the “Otef Kirya” operation (Hebrew for “surrounding the military HQ”). “We are here to block Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from returning to fighting in Gaza with our bodies,” Zangauker told Israeli media on the day the first tents were erected.
At first, it seemed the growing number of activists and their supporters — now filling around 100 camping tents underneath the bridge connecting the military HQ and the adjacent mall — were gathering momentum. During the day, they organized a variety of protest actions: morning jogs around the military HQ led by Zangauker; activities for parents and children focused on the hostage families’ struggle; and silent sit-ins. During the evenings, they held demonstrations attracting hundreds and sometimes thousands of participants, blocking traffic and calling on drivers to step out of their cars as they read out the names of the 59 hostages still held in Gaza.
Since breaking away last winter from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the main organization representing the hostage families, due to its restrained approach and reluctance to confront the government directly, Sha’ar Begin has singled out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the primary obstacle to a deal. Adopting confrontational and sometimes even theatrical tactics — like laying out a Shabbat table in the middle of the Ayalon Highway and setting it alight — they have been consistent in demanding the release of all the hostages at once in exchange for an immediate end to the war.