Israeli protesters demand Netanyahu reach hostage deal with Hamas

Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Saturday demanding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sign a deal to release the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza.

During the weekly protest against the government of Netanyahu, relatives of hostages and their supporters said the moment to sit down and negotiate a deal was long overdue.

This latest call by protesters comes days after Israel said it had killed Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, believed to be the chief architect of the 7 October attack on southern Israel.

Also on Saturday, the Israeli military said a drone was launched from Lebanon towards the Israeli prime minister’s home in Caesarea in the north of the country.

Protester Gal Sne said with 101 Israeli hostages still held captive by Hamas, no time should be lost to release them.

“So we have Sinwar supposedly dead, and we have this attack (on Netanyahu’s house) and whatever. I don’t care,” he said.

“I want the hostages released. There is a hostage release deal, it has been on the table since October 7th last year. Netanyahu has to sign this deal and then the rest will fall into place.”

One of the earliest proposals for a hostage release deal was put forward on 12 October 2023, five days after the initial Hamas attack.

Egyptian officials said it called for releasing all women and children held by Hamas and other Palestinian militants in Gaza, in return for freeing all Palestinian women in Israeli prisons.

The Israelis rejected that initial proposal.

Another protester, Mirav Berkowitz, called on leaders on both sides to sit down and talk.

“We’re people, aren’t we? We are people on both sides. This is the time to talk. Make this horrible, make these killings, make it an opportunity,” she said.

Following the killing of Sinwar, both Israel and Hamas have signalled their resistance to ending the war in Gaza.

While ceasefire talks have stumbled along, the Palestinians militant group says none of the hostages will be released until the Israeli military completely withdraws from Gaza.

The weekly protests, on what has come to be known as Hostages Square, have also taken on a political dimension.

Many of the protesters have been demanding Netanyahu step down and call fresh elections, while some accuse him of prioritising his political survival over the lives of the hostages.

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