“The Last Walk” – All The Hostages Are Home

After 843 days, all the hostages have finally returned home from Gaza. On Monday, January 26, the body of Ran Gvili was returned to Israel, marking the last of the 251 hostages from October 7, 2023 to come home. It also marked the first time since 2014 that no Israelis are held in Gaza.

Boulder’s Run4TheirLives chapter has walked every Sunday since early November, 2023 to bring attention back to the hostages being held in Gaza. They walked in every weather, every season for over two years to remind the Boulder community, and make sure that the families of the hostages knew that their loved ones were not forgotten.

Finally, today, Sunday February 1, 2026, 65 members of the group walked the Pearl St. Mall for the last time. Instead of carrying pictures of the living and dead who remained in Gaza, all they had were flags, joyful signs and – many for the first time on these Sundays – smiles. Upbeat Israeli and Jewish songs played on a portable speaker, and many of the walkers sang along.

Once the group reached the courthouse lawn, they arrayed themselves in front of the courthouse, facing the fountain, and chanted on video, “The last walk — they are all home, shalom — Run for their lives, Boulder Colorado.” This was to be sent, as always, to the Hostage Families Forum back in Israel to show our community’s support and love. As it has on every walk since 2023, the group also sang “Hatikvah,” led by local Israelis.

It was not lost on any of those present that they were standing on the very spot where the group was firebombed exactly eight months earlier, on June 1, 2025, doing exactly what they were doing – peacefully walking in support of and remembering the hostages and their families. Firebombed just for being Jewish.

There were short speeches from leaders – Rachel Amaru, Bruce Shaffer, Barbara Steinmetz – and 18 seconds of silence in memory. Not just for the 85 hostages who died on October 7 or while in Gaza; but also in memory of Karen Diamond, the Boulder walker who died of injuries sustained in the firebombing attack of June 1.

The two young regulars who had carried the “Run For Their Lives” banner on this weeks’ walk – and on many other weeks over the past two-plus years – folded up the banner, symbolizing its retirement. Then the group walked back along Pearl St. to their starting place, singing Israeli songs and chatting, celebrating this bittersweet moment and continuing to pray for peace.