The government is waging a war of attrition against the hostage families in particular, and Israeli citizens as a whole, the wife of hostage Omri Miran, Lishay Lavi-Miran, told crowds of demonstrators at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv on Friday, commemorating 700 days since Hamas’s October 7 massacre.
According to Lavi-Miran, in recent days, official state representatives have approached hostage families, and the messages conveyed to them have caused deep alarm.
“I am prevented from elaborating too much at this stage, and I don’t want to harm other families,” Lavi-Miran said.“But I can tell you based on direct knowledge: the government of Israel is laying the groundwork for the killing of the hostages.
"This is not speculation, it is not just a concern - it is a genuine alarm coming from senior official sources.”
“This government no longer cares about numbers. Whether it is 900 fallen soldiers, or 48 hostages, or 700 days, they are trying to turn this unbearable reality into just another number to be swallowed.”
“The lives of citizens and soldiers have become so cheap. The unbearable has become bearable,” she concluded.
Hostages could die 'at any moment'
“Ziv [Berman] and Gali [Berman], my little brothers, will mark another birthday in captivity next week,” Liran Berman said.
“Just 100 kilometers from here. They are holding on. We are their lifeline, their extra quarter of a pita, their oxygen.
“A year ago, we were told about the murder of six hostages in Rafah. Now I want you to imagine that in another week, or two weeks, or three, we are told that another hostage has been murdered.
“This is not some theoretical nightmare; this is something that could happen at any moment.
“A birthday should be a day of joy, of family, of cake and candles. But for us, the celebration has become a cry. Every birthday spent in captivity is not just another date, it is an open wound reminding us that your lives have been stolen, and that we must never allow ourselves to grow used to this.”
What does 700 days mean?
“700 days of captivity. Can anyone even grasp what that means?” former hostage Doron Steinbrecher asked crowds in Tel Aviv.
“To be imprisoned, starved, terrified, longing, lonely for 700 days? I know what it is to sit in a tunnel and wait, to hope, to cling to the tiniest shred of expectation. And that hope it shatters again and again, endlessly.”
“The recent videos break my heart. And above all, they prove without any doubt that the hostages have no time.
In a direct message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet, Steinbrecher appealed for a comprehensive deal and begged for the military operations in Gaza to be halted.
“Military pressure and entering Gaza put the hostages in direct, grave danger. I know what it is to sit in a tunnel, knowing how light the finger is on the trigger, how every sound, every movement, could mean the end. I demand that you think deeply about the destructive consequences of your decisions. Listen to us - the voices of those who were there, the voices of the waiting families, the voices that obligate you to think differently.”
Maariv contributed to this report.