Families of Hamas hostages rally outside Israeli Ministry of Defense

People gathered outside Israel's Ministry of Defense headquarters in Tel-Aviv to call for the release of the hostages held by Hamas since the October 7 attacks. The attacks by Gaza's ruling Islamist movement Hamas took the Israeli military and political establishment by surprise and killed more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians, with 240 more taken hostage.
In retaliation, Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and has mounted a devastating air, ground and sea bombardment followed by a ground invasion of Gaza, where the hostages are believed to be held. International pressure is growing on Israel to agree to humanitarian pauses in the Gaza fighting, but hostages' loved-ones said they should be released as a precondition.