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 323 days.
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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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At the beginning of the rally, a group of activists led by the mother of one of the hostages called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to abandon Israel’s demand to maintain a military presence in the so-called Philadelphia Corridor on the border of the Gaza Strip and Egypt, which is currently one of the cornerstones in reaching an agreement on the Palestinian enclave. According to the protesters, the current round of negotiations is the last chance for the release of the hostages, since if they fail completely, an escalation of the situation should be expected.
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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 negotiations on a deal between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages could take place on Sunday in Cairo with the participation of CIA chief Bill Burns, Qatari Prime Minister Muhammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and senior officials from Israel and Egypt.
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On Thursday, the Israeli negotiating team, led by the heads of the foreign intelligence services Mossad and General Security (Shin Bet), returned from the next round of negotiations in Cairo on the Gaza Strip. The meetings proceeded in a good and productive manner and gaps in positions were narrowed with a view to holding an effective round of negotiations scheduled for Sunday.
