Hello and welcome to the details of After 817 days, Israel’s hostage families forum bows out with one last mission unfulfilled and now with the details
Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Palestinian fighters escort Israeli hostage Arbel Yehud to a Red Cross team in Khan Younis, Gaza, on January 30, 2025. — AFP pic
JERUSALEM, Jan 1 — The Israeli group representing the families of hostages held in Gaza announced its own closure Wednesday, with only one of what was once more than 250 missing still unaccounted for.
Under the slogan “Bring Them Home Now”, The Hostages and Missing Families Forum become a political force within Israel during the Gaza war, staging regular rallies and lobbying the Israeli government.
Over the months of the war, US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were among the international figures to meet the association, which sought to forefront the fates of those kidnapped during the October 7, 2023 attacks.
The group’s weekly protests in Tel Aviv also became something of a focal point for left-wing opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, and the forum itself backed the peace deal pushed by US President Donald Trump.
“Today, December 31, 2025, the Hostages’ Families Forum is ending its activities in its current form,” the statement said.
“The struggle is not over,” it adds. “We still have one last hostage in Gaza.”
Ran Gvili, a non-commissioned officer in the Israeli police’s elite Yassam unit, was killed in action on the day of the October 7 attack. His body was taken to Gaza and has not been recovered despite the ceasefire.
“Our mission will not be complete and our hearts will not heal until Rani is back, to be buried in Israel,” the forum statement said.
Founded in the wake of the attack, which triggered Israel’s war in Gaza, the forum brought together most of the families of the 251 people — Israelis and foreigners, civilians and military — abducted in Israel that day.
Since then, the forum has supported the families, given them a voice in the media, and organised hundreds of gatherings in Tel Aviv and across the country.
“For 817 days, we acted together — thousands of volunteers, professionals and families — for a single sacred goal: to bring all the... hostages home,” the statement said.
Most of the hostages were freed during two previous truces between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
After the latest ceasefire took effect on October 10, the last 20 surviving captives were handed over to Israel, as were 27 of 28 sets of hostage remains.
Israel has said it is now awaiting the return of Gvili’s body before beginning talks on the second phase of the peace agreement with Hamas. — AFP
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