Tel Aviv [Israel], February 5: Thousands of demonstrators in Israel took to the streets this weekend to demand that the government do more to secure the release of hostages kidnapped by the Palestinian organization Hamas.
The hostage families' rally in the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv was held on Saturday under the slogan "120 days underground" regarding the number of days the more than 130 hostages have been held.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoted a 15-year-old speaker whose cousin was abducted in the Gaza Strip on October 7 as saying, "Prime Minister Bibi (Benjamin) Netanyahu, please bring them home at all costs!" At another demonstration in Tel Aviv, participants demanded the resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and early elections.
They accused Netanyahu of subordinating efforts to secure the release of the hostages to the requirements of his political survival. Netanyahu governs together with ultra-right-wing religious parties.
Their leaders are threatening to break up the governing coalition if Netanyahu makes concessions to Hamas.
Around 1,000 people also demonstrated in Jerusalem in favour of the release of the hostages.
Similar protests and demonstrations also took place on Saturday in Haifa, Beersheba and in front of Netanyahu's villa in Caesarea.
Against the backdrop of the Gaza war, efforts are currently being made by the United States, Egypt and Qatar to broker a new hostage agreement between Israel and Hamas.
A proposal that provides for the gradual release of hostages in return for a longer ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners has reportedly been accepted by the Israeli negotiators and is now before Hamas for approval.
Israel has been fighting Hamas in Gaza since the group launched a bloody raid on Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 and kidnapping about 250 people.
The Hamas-controlled health authority in Gaza said that at least 27,238 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began and a further 66,452 people have been injured. The figures cannot be independently verified but they are deemed credible by the United Nations and other observers. (DPA)
Source: Qatar Tribune
