Protestors gathered outside the house of IDF chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi on Friday, demanding that the IDF soldiers believed to be held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip be returned amid upcoming talks on Gaza following the recent conflict.
The soldiers include Lt. Hadar Goldin and St.-Sgt. Oron Shaul who were taken captive during Israel's 2014 Operation Protection Edge in Gaza.
Protests also took place outside the homes of Brig.-Gen. Eliezer Toledano, OC of the Southern Command, and the home of head of the Operations Directorate Maj.-Gen. Aharon Haliva.
On Friday, Hadar Goldin's brother Tzur said that when Kohavi goes to enter negotiations to decide the outcome of Israel's recent Operation Guardian of the Wall in Gaza, that he fights for the soldiers.
"From our perspective, the IDF chief of staff is the one who needs to fight for the soldiers, Goldin said."
But Goldin also said that the protestors are there to protest against forces involved involved in negotiations who are trying to separate the Gaza agreements from the returning of the soldiers.
"If the soldiers are not returned now, it will give legitimacy to never return them," Goldin said. "There have been two operations so far, and the boys were still left behind."
Goldin has been outspoken towards the return of the soldiers.
Last week he tweeted that that Egyptian security delegation which entered Gaza had been advised by Israel's National Security Council to place the release of Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip at the bottom of the priority list in its ceasefire negotiations.
"It's amazing: Yoni Netanyahu sacrificed his life to return prisoners, Benjamin Netanyahu does everything to leave prisoners behind. Shame," he added.
In addition, Leah Goldin, Hadar's mother said that she sees a renewed opportunity to bring him home, given that truce talks are still ongoing.
“The opportunity is still here. After the war and when the fire stops, that is the moment when negotiations start,” she said, and those talks open new options after many years with scant hope for a breakthrough.
This comes after many Israelis have taken to the streets in protest of the unconditional ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel, with demands to return both the soldiers and the two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, held in Hamas captivity since 2014 and 2015, respectively.Tovah Lazaroff and Hadassah Brenner contributed to this report.