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As Israelis Hold Their Breath for a Deal, Hostages Square Is a Site of Hope

One day before the hostage release deal was set to begin, Israelis flocked to Hostages Square, hopeful that the site of solidarity and protest may soon no longer be necessary

כיכר החטופים בתל אביב (צילום: מאיה רונן)
Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square. (Photo: Maya Ronen)
By Maya Ronen

On Saturday morning, one day before the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was meant to come into effect, throngs of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square to show support for the deal and for the families waiting for their loved ones. If the deal goes according to plan—which is far from a given—the nearly 100 hostages held in Gaza may be released over the next several months.

First to arrive in Hostages Square are retired people and stroller-toting parents of young children. A bit later, family members of the hostages, for whom the square has become a second home over the past 15 months, show up. Together with volunteers, they get the large white tent and the stand with yellow solidarity ribbons ready for visitors.

“It finally seems like our prayer that we wouldn’t need to keep running this stand is starting to come true,” one of the volunteers says. Inhaling deeply, she adds another prayer: “Let them come home already.”

Many of the volunteers have long identified themselves as member of the “hostage family,” a family that is far too large, one that knows no borders of biology.

The stand at Hostages Square where visitors can purchase solidarity shirts and ribbons. (Photo: Maya Ronen)
The stand at Hostages Square where visitors can purchase solidarity shirts and ribbons. (Photo: Maya Ronen)

Next to arrive in the square are journalists representing foreign media outlets. One by one, they set up their cameras on tripods, working on articles to be released in a slew of foreign languages. “I want to get across the worries, the tension, and the hope, but something gets lost in translation,” one foreign journalist says in French-accented English.

Foreign journalists at Hostages Square. (Photo: Maya Ronen)
Foreign journalists at Hostages Square. (Photo: Maya Ronen)

Little by little, the square fills up with families—parents, grandparents, and children. The laughter of toddlers can be heard now and again, a sign that there is light among the darkness. A musician plays “Lu Yehi”—Naomi Shemer’s Hebrew version of “Let it Be”—on a yellow piano placed in the square in honor of Alon Ohel, a talented 23-year-old musician who has been held hostage for nearly a year and a half since being kidnapped at the Nova music festival.

“Allow them to return safely here—all that we ask for, let it be,” the musician at the piano sings, repeating lyrics first written about the 1973 Yom Kippur War. “From his fingers to God’s ears,” a smiling old woman by the piano says.

The piano at Hostages Square set up in honor of 23-year-old hostage and pianist Alon Ohel. (Photo: Maya Ronen)
The piano at Hostages Square set up in honor of 23-year-old hostage and pianist Alon Ohel. (Photo: Maya Ronen)

The focal point of Hostages Square is the long Shabbat table set up to bring attention to the dozens of empty chairs at family Shabbat dinners across the country. Since the table was first set up more than a year ago, the number of empty seats has gone down—first following the November 2023 deal in which more than 100 hostages were released, and then after various military efforts to retrieve small numbers of hostages.

At the head of the table is a seat for Gadi Moses, and 80-year-old who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz. Tsahi Idan and Omri Miran, Moses’ neighbors from the kibbutz, have seats beside him. Beside them is a chair for Doron Steinbrecher, a 31-year-old woman from nearby Kibbutz Kfar Aza.

The empty dinner table at Hostages Square. (Photo: Maya Ronen)
The empty dinner table at Hostages Square. (Photo: Maya Ronen)

Bipin Joshi, a foreign worker from Nepal who was kidnapped, also has a seat at the table, as does Avera Mengistu, an Israeli civilian who has been held in Gaza for more than 10 years.

At the center of the table are empty seats for Kfir and Ariel Bibas, who were 9 months old and 4 years old at the time of their abduction, and their parents Shiri and Yarden.

Empty seats at the table for Kfir and Ariel Bibas and their parents. (Photo: Maya Ronen)
Empty seats at the table for Kfir and Ariel Bibas and their parents. (Photo: Maya Ronen)

Saturday was Kfir’s second birthday, and his second birthday spent in Hamas captivity. According to the terms of the deal, the Bibases are set to be released within days—but it is not clear whether they are still alive.

The clock in Hostages Square. (Photo: Maya Ronen)
The clock in Hostages Square. (Photo: Maya Ronen)

As the square fills up with life and families working to maintain hope, the large clock on the edge of the square keeps ticking, marking 469 days of captivity. The clock is a symbol that time is running out, and it will continue to tick until all the hostages are brought home.

This article was translated from Hebrew by Leah Schwartz.

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