Israeli hostage families clash with Knesset security guards over independent inquiry demand

Family members of the Israeli hostages in Gaza clashed with security guards at the Knesset (parliament) yesterday after they were barred from attending a session about an official state inquiry into the failures during the Hamas cross-border incursion on 7 October, 2023. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to appear at the session to respond to the report’s outcomes and deliver a speech.

Ahead of the session, the hostages’ relatives attempted to enter the Knesset’s public gallery to follow the discussion, but security guards stopped them, claiming that the gallery had limited capacity. The two groups engaged in verbal altercations that developed into fistfights.

Video clips circulating on social media showed the father of a soldier killed on 7 October telling a security guard, “My son died defending you. I want to see how you will prevent me from entering, everyone will enter.”

Tension escalated further when one father lost consciousness during the protests, requiring the intervention of medical teams inside the Knesset building.

At the beginning of the parliamentary session, Naor Shiri MK of Yesh Atid criticised the prevention of the families from going into the public gallery. Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana attempted to justify the decision by claiming that the number of public spectators had been downsized since the beginning of the war.

Shiri accused the Knesset administration of influencing who can enter the hall. “The balcony is empty; how can a session be held in the Israeli parliament where they sort out who is allowed to enter and who is not?” he asked.

Earlier, the families held a press conference outside the Knesset, during which the mother of an Israeli prisoner who was killed in Gaza called for the establishment of an official commission of inquiry, noting that the Israeli government is ignoring widespread public demand on the matter.

“After the 11 September attacks in the United States, President George W Bush signed legislation to establish an official commission of inquiry to examine the deadliest terrorist attack in America,” she said. “This commission led to broad reforms, closed loopholes in the system and issued a clear final report explaining the mistakes that were made.” She called on the decision-makers in Israel to listen to the vast majority of the people and establish such a commission.

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