Thousands of Israelis took to anti-government rallies in Tel Aviv and other cities demanding an immediate deal for the release of hostages from the Gaza Strip, held captive by Palestinian radicals for 330 days.
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Protesters once again called for early elections in Israel and an immediate deal to release hostages from the Gaza Strip. The largest protest action, which has become a weekly event, takes place in the center of Tel Aviv near a complex of government buildings, where, in particular, the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense is located. Ambulance crews and large police forces are on duty, blocking traffic in the city center and setting up barriers to prevent possible unrest and blocking of neighboring highways, which has happened several times at previous protests.
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Before the rally, a group of relatives of the hostages sharply criticized the government of Benjamin Netanyahu for its insistence on maintaining military control in the so-called Philadelphia Corridor on the border of the Gaza Strip and Egypt. This Israeli demand is one of the stumbling blocks to concluding a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of hostages.
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“Netanyahu and his… cabinet decided to disrupt the deal by using the Philadelphia Corridor, thereby deliberately sentencing the abductees to death,” the mother of one of the hostages, Einav Tsengauker said.
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Control of the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, as Netanyahu himself has repeatedly stated, is a necessary strategic factor in curbing the smuggling of weapons into the hands of Palestinian radicals across the Egyptian border. The Israeli army recently reported the destruction of 150 tunnels near the city of Rafah in the south of the enclave, including those running under the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. The Egyptian side officially rejects the idea of border control by Israeli forces, since Cairo is confident that this is a violation of the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, signed back in 1979.
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On the other side of the complex of government buildings, in the so-called “Hostage Square,” another mass action is taking place, which is organized weekly by the Forum of Hostage Families, an Israeli public organization involved in accompanying and supporting the families of hostages abducted by the Palestinian Hamas movement on October 7, 2023.
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A new round of ceasefire negotiations in the Gaza Strip began in Doha on August 15 at the initiative of Egypt, Qatar and the United States. Contrary to the positive statements of the parties, it was not possible to reach any specifics on an agreement between the warring parties. The second round of negotiations in Cairo was also unsuccessful. Representatives of the mediating countries and a delegation from Israel continued to discuss new details of a possible resolution of differences over an agreement between the Hamas movement and Israel in Doha on Thursday.
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The main point on which mutual understanding cannot be reached is Israel’s demand to maintain its presence on the Philadelphia line and at the Rafah border crossing on the Egyptian border. The Hamas leadership considers such conditions unacceptable and demands the complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip.
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According to Israeli data, 107 hostages are still held captive by Palestinian radicals, about 40 of whom are considered dead. Through various operations and humanitarian efforts, 148 people were freed from Hamas captivity, including the dead hostages whose bodies were removed from the enclave.
