In Central Park, pro-Israel demonstrators wait with hope, held breath for release of Hamas hostages

Excitement and no small amount of anxiety filled the hearts of a group of staunch pro-Israel demonstrators in Central Park on Sunday as they waited for what was expected. the imminent return of all living Hamas hostages held in the Gaza Strip.

Hundreds of marchers gathered Sunday morning for their weekly walk. Central Park Reservoir, they hope the tradition can be brought to an end by the planned return of the last 20 hostages on Monday morning.

“It's been every Sunday for two years since then,” said Jamie Warfield, 30, who attended four or five weekly marches. “Hopefully this will be the last one… I feel like every time it was, 'Get them home now!' Although this is the first time this has happened, we said, “They are coming home!” So it was really beautiful.”

She added: “You could tell everyone was on eggshells. Some said I hope I don't see you next Sunday.”

Participants said Sunday's march was larger than usual because it took place just days after the two-year anniversary. on the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7 it killed about 1,200 people and sparked an ongoing offensive by Israeli forces that has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians.

“The energy was so different because we were saying, 'Bring them home, we hope the war ends, make a deal,'” said Debbie Ergas, 41. “The Jewish community here, most of us want a two-state solution. We want to live in peace.”

She added: “Here in New York, we should be able to coexist.”

Carrying an Israeli flag emblazoned with photographs of the hostages, Dr. Rebecca Mannis, 61, of Manhattan, called the march an opportunity to “pray with our feet.”

“I was also here most Sundays to support Israel, to pray and be among those advocating for the release of the hostages, and to reflect on our role as New York Jews and Zionists in the greater New York community,” Mannis said.

The crowd also heard from the cousin of two hostages, twins Gali and Ziv Berman: which are expected to be released.

“She was very grateful for what we've done here the last two years,” marcher Orit Huberman said, describing her cousin's remarks.

Huberman helps make banners and flags for the weekly march.

“Over the last two years, we've had parents of hostages… we've had brothers, people who have come to protect families,” she said. “There are 48 hostages. Twenty are alive and on the move, but for the rest we are not sure that they will find all the bodies, so we are waiting until every single one comes.”

Dana Ergas, 27, called the atmosphere at Sunday's march “a little tense.”

“Until I see them all at home, I won’t rest about this,” she said.

The planned release of the hostages is part of ceasefire agreement with Hamas as the Palestinians awaited a long-promised increase in humanitarian aid to ease hunger caused by Israel's restrictions on aid and its ground offensive.

Israeli spokesman Shosh Bedrossian said the hostages would likely be taken to a military base to be reunited with their families or to a hospital if necessary. After that, Israel expects to release about 2,000 Palestinian detainees and accept 28 hostages believed to be dead.

“This could have happened a long time ago, but the public is used to talking only about what Israel is doing, forgetting that Hamas also has freedom of action,” said marcher Tal Siegel, 49. “They could have just released them a long time ago… If that doesn't happen, fighting could resume. And both sides are looking for reasons.”

She added: “Many good people with good intentions who want to help the Palestinians did not realize that if they also put pressure on Hamas, this could have happened a long time ago.”

Siegel says every week they read out the names of hostages, including those who are dead.

“Today was different because we were all happy. This is the first time we were all happy,” he said. “We can breathe.”

With telegraph services

Originally published: October 12, 2025 05:16 PM EST