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Tens of thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv to demand an end to the war in Gaza and the immediate release of the 50 hostages still being held by Hamas.
Roughly 60,000 people protested at Hostage Square in the city on Saturday evening in a call for urgent action.
Some held signs that read “Stop the war” and “Leave no one behind”, CNN reported.
- Around 60,000 Israelis rallied at Tel Aviv's Hostage Square demanding an end to war and release of 50 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
- Horrific videos show emaciated hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski starved and suffering, sparking urgent calls for rescue.
- Evyatar's brother condemned Hamas for using captives in a cruel hunger experiment violating international law and basic human decency.
- Families appealed directly to PM Netanyahu to stop the war and prioritize humanitarian efforts to save hostages and civilians.
Around 60,000 people attended a protest in Tel Aviv on Saturday
Image credits: Yair Palti/Anadolu via Getty Images
It comes after propaganda videos of two emaciated hostages – Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski – were released by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad last week.
Around 20 of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza are believed to be alive.
Some of the footage featuring David, including a clip in which he says he believes he is digging his own grave, was projected onto a screen at the rally with his family’s permission.
His brother, Ilay, told the crowd that he was watching helplessly as his brother slipped away.
Image credits: Bring Them Home Now
”Hamas is using Evyatar in one of the most horrific and calculated campaigns of cruelty imaginable – a live hunger experiment,” he said.
“They are starving him deliberately, systematically, using his agonising suffering as a twisted tool for their depraved propaganda.
“This is not just a violation of international law; it is a brutal, barbaric assault on every shred of basic human decency. It’s an act so vile, it scars the very soul of humanity.”
“Every single moment that ticks brings him closer to an unthinkable death,” Ilay added.
“Evyatar and Guy are not symbols. They are not bargaining chips. They are not a statistic. They are human beings for God’s sake.”
“They are on the absolute brink of death. In their current, unimaginable condition, they may have only days left to live.”
Ilay, brother of hostage Evyatar David, spoke tonight at the rally at Hostages Square, a day after Hamas released Evyatar’s devastating video from… pic.twitter.com/u0ygVYCpLy
— Bring Them Home Now (@bringhomenow) August 2, 2025
In harrowing footage released by Islamic Jihad, Braslavski was also seen to be extremely thin and lying on the floor in pain.
His family granted permission for parts of the footage, filmed in July before the group lost contact with the militants who kidnapped Braslavski, to be published.
Braslavski’s father called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war at Saturday’s rally, CNN reported.
“My Rom is hungry for bread, thirsty for water, sick, physically broken, and mentally shattered. My child is dying!” he said. “I address you, Prime Minister: Enough! The phased approach to deals has failed.”
Families of hostages still in Gaza are calling for urgent action
Image credits: Bring Them Home Now
“Make the decision already – end the war and bring everyone here. The hostages, the fallen soldiers, the fighters, the reservists, and those displaced from their homes. We want to rehabilitate, to return to life, to breathe,” he added.
In a statement, his mother, Tami, said she would not stop fighting until they brought him home.
“I have never seen my son like this. Rom is not shouting or angry—he speaks quietly, in a weak voice like a person who has accepted the fact that there’s nothing left to fight for and may not come out of there alive,” she said.
“They say that when words run out, tears speak. Rom, my life, I am crying with you.”
Image credits: Yael Guisky Abas/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
“My Rom, I look into your eyes and see the disappointment, your heartbreak. I listen to your voice and hear the pain. I don’t know what will happen, but I am doing and will do everything to get you out of there, and I won’t stop until you come home,” Tami added.
The protest came after the U.S. Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, visited a controversial Israeli and U.S.-backed food distribution site, run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
Since July 21, over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces while trying to access aid in the vicinity of these GHF or other aid distribution points, the UN claims.
The GHF denies these claims.
Image credits: Abdalhkem Abu Riash/Anadolu via Getty Images
Human rights organizations and UN agencies have warned of imminent famine in Gaza due to Israel’s blockade and severely restricted humanitarian access.
Witkoff also attended Hostage Square on Saturday and met with the families of the hostages still being held in Gaza for around three hours.
According to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, he said the plan was to end the war in Gaza, not expand it, and bring all 50 hostages home at the same time.
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