Negotiations on hostage releases are stalling, and discontent is growing in Israel. Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated again for an agreement – and against Prime Minister Netanyahu.
In Israel, there have been renewed mass demonstrations against the backdrop of the Gaza war. Participants demanded an agreement with Hamas to release around 100 hostages. According to media reports, organizers are talking about 500,000 demonstrators in Tel Aviv alone.
“We must not sacrifice any more lives, we must not sacrifice them,” said a relative of Carmel Gat, a hostage shot by the extremists, at the rally. “Their time is running out.”
“The six would be here with us today”
Hamas terrorists killed Gat and five other people last week with close-range gunfire. The Israeli military found their bodies in a tunnel in Gaza. “The six would be here with us today if Netanyahu had said yes to a deal,” Gat's relative shouted to the crowd.
Hamas and other Islamist terrorist groups invaded southern Israel on October 7 last year, killing more than 1,200 people and taking about 250 others hostage in the Gaza Strip.
The unprecedented massacre triggered the Gaza war. According to figures from the Gaza Strip that cannot be independently verified, more than 40,930 people have been killed there since October.
Negotiations unsuccessful
The indirect negotiations for the release of hostages, in which the USA, Egypt and Qatar are mediating, have been fruitless for months. The multi-stage agreement being sought would also include an end to the war, the withdrawal of the Israeli military from the Gaza Strip and the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.
Critics accuse Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to torpedo the conclusion of such an agreement with excessive demands. He governs in a coalition with right-wing extremists who reject concessions to Hamas and threaten to end the government coalition.
US media recently reported on a planned final proposal for an agreement. If both parties to the conflict do not accept this, it could mean the end of the negotiations, it was said.
