Rallies across Israel attended by thousands of people are calling on the Benjamin Netanyahu government to make a deal with Hamas and bring the hostages held in Gaza home.
Rallies happened on Saturday in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square and in cities across the country, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and a hostage rescue deal with Hamas, Times of Israel reported.
According to the report, thousands more gathered for a separate Jewish-Arab anti-war protest.
“There is a deal on the table. But deals do not last forever; their windows close fast and hard, as we have seen too many times before. This may be the last chance to save lives and to bring the fallen back,” the report quoted Liran Berman as saying. Berman’s younger brothers, Gali and Ziv Berman, were abducted from their homes in Kibbutz Kfar Aza by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023, and are held hostage in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he had issued instructions for negotiations to be held for the return of all 50 hostages, even as he moved toward approving plans for a military offensive aimed at conquering Gaza City. Demonstrators believe Netanyahu isn’t serious about a deal and is “sacrificing” the hostages.
“He talks about negotiations, but in practice, he is sacrificing them,” Berman told Times of Israel.
The Gaza truce deal
Hamas said last week that it had agreed to a proposed deal, which would see the release of 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 slain hostages during a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, as well as the release of hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners.
Israel and Hamas would hold negotiations for the return of all remaining hostages and a permanent end to the war during the ceasefire period.
However, Benjamin Netanyahu has indicated in recent weeks that he would only support a comprehensive deal, rather than a phased, partial agreement. The Israeli PM also made it clear that a deal would be accepted only if the terms meet all his conditions, including the disarmament of Hamas, the demilitarisation of the Gaza Strip, and the transfer of governance to a body that is not Hamas or the Palestinian Authority.
