Hersh Goldberg-Polin: Bay Area community holds rally for Berkeley native held hostage by Hamas on I-80 overpass

BERKELEY, Calif. (KGO) — The long wait for a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas has been heartbreaking for the family of Hersh Goldberg-Polin.

The 23-year-old, raised in Berkeley, has been held hostage for more than 10 months.

On Sunday, his friends and supporters gathered on the pedestrian overpass above I-80 near University Avenue.

The overpass is over one of the most popular freeways in all of the Bay Area. And on Sunday, it was for people who were trying to send a message that they wanted the hostages freed overseas.

Friends of Hamas hostage and Berkeley native Hersh Goldberg-Polin are organizing an event for him this Sunday at the Berkeley pedestrian overpass.

Berkeley is the native home to Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of the hostages still in captivity.

At the Democratic National Convention last week, his parents spoke, calling for peace in the region and calling for him and all the other hostages to be freed.

The group that gathered in Berkeley echoed his parents’ sentiments and planned to rally throughout the evening on the overpass.