Families of Israeli hostages rally on Gaza border to prisoner swap with Palestinians

JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL

Families of Israeli captives in Gaza demonstrated along the border with the Palestinian enclave on Sunday to demand a prisoner exchange with Palestinians.

“We will not abandon you, you are very close, but you are very far away,” Haaretz newspaper quoted Sylvia Cunio, mother of hostages David and Ariel Cunio, as saying during the rally near the Nir Oz settlement on the Gaza border.

Ilana Gritzewsky, whose husband, Matan Zangauker, is held in Gaza, called on the government to reach a prisoner swap deal with Palestinians.

"If you are listening, Matan, don't give up. Don't lose hope. The whole nation is fighting for you to return,” she said.

Israeli estimates suggest that 59 captives remain in Gaza, with 24 believed to be alive. In contrast, over 9,500 Palestinians remain imprisoned in Israel under harsh conditions, including reports of torture, starvation, and medical neglect, according to both Palestinian and Israeli rights organizations.

Nearly 140,000 Israelis, including military figures, have signed petitions demanding the return of captives from Gaza and ending the war on the enclave.

More than 51,200 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.

In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.