Thousands of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv this evening to demand the government take urgent action to secure the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, a day after the army recovered the bodies of three hostages kidnapped by Hamas.

Protesters observed a minute’s silence in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square in honor of the dead hostages, according to an AFP correspondent.

The Israeli military announced yesterday that it had recovered the bodies of three hostages who had been taken to the Gaza Strip after the three were killed during an attack by Hamas-led militants on Israeli soil on October 7. He said the bodies of the hostages, Israeli Hanan Yablonka, Israeli-Brazilian Michel Nizenbaum and French-Mexican Orion Hernandez-Radu, were recovered overnight in a joint operation by the army and intelligence services in Jabalia, in the northern part of the war zone where the heavy fighting has been going on for the past few days.

“In a few hours, I will bury my 42-year-old brother (…). I was afraid that this moment would come,” Avivit, Hanan Yablonka’s sister, said at the demonstration.

“My brother, I promise you that I will continue to cry out (…) to fight and do everything in my power to ensure that all the hostages return home safe and sound,” he added. “Now we have to get them out of this hell.”

The bodies of four other dead hostages – Ron Benjamin, Itzhak Gelerender, Sunny Luke and Amit Buskila – were recovered last week from Gaza.

Another demonstration calling for early elections and the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was also held this evening in Tel Aviv.