Witkoff attends Tel Aviv rally calling for captives’ return
US special envoy Steve Witkoff has paid a visit to a protest in Tel Aviv where relatives of Israeli captives held in Gaza are urging the government to strike a deal to bring their loved ones home.
Footage verified by Al Jazeera shows Witkoff arriving at the rally as demonstrators chant “bring them home,” in reference to the Israeli captives.
While meeting with captives’ families, Witkoff said, “I hear your frustration”, but gave no update on a potential deal, according to Israeli media.
“I wish that I had news for you. But the situation is complicated. There are many reasons [for this] that I cannot detail,” he said in comments carried by The Times of Israel.
The US envoy on Friday toured a GHF site in Gaza amid criticism over US and Israeli coordination in the Strip, particularly over the distribution model of the controversial group.
סטיב וויטקוף הגיע לככר החטופים
צילום - החזית הורודה @SteveWitkoff #BringThemHomeNow pic.twitter.com/QBma1Az3uO
— צדיק בסדום (@SdomsRighteous) August 2, 2025
Translation: “Steve Witkoff arrived at Hostages Square.”
Captives’ families call for return as Witkoff visits Tel Aviv
Families of Israeli captives have used the loaded term “holocaust” to describe what their loved ones are going through in Gaza without a ceasefire deal.
That is in reference to the picture of the emaciated soldier that was released from Gaza a couple of days ago. A picture that is very similar to the footage that we have been seeing coming out of Gaza that shows starvation among Palestinian children and adults.
But the families are specifically talking about the captives that are still held by Hamas and not referring at all to the Palestinians who are living exactly the same hardships, if not more, because they are also subjected to daily bombings.
US envoy Steve Witkoff had a busy day in Tel Aviv, heading to Hostage Square where he met some of the families. We heard through them that he told them negotiating with Hamas has become “extremely exhausting”, and that he understood why these families have lost faith in their own government, but they still have the backing of Donald Trump.
