Anti-government rallies erupted in several cities across Israel this weekend, as tens of thousands of Israelis demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strike a deal with terror group Hamas to free more than 100 hostages still held in Gaza.
The demonstrations – a regular occurrence – were notable for taking place despite urgent security warnings as Israel braces for a possible strike from Iran. Some form of military retaliation has been widely expected in the region following the unclaimed assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday.
Despite the tense security situation, large crowds gathered to Begin Gate in Tel Aviv on Saturday to support the families of the hostages and to call for their release from captivity, according to protest organizers. Videos showed protestors waving Israeli flags and holding up signs with images of the Israeli hostages.
At the Begin gate of the Kirya IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, people were heard chanting, “We’re not letting up; release the hostages.” Others shouted, “Stop the death, stop the bereavement, human lives above all!” Some protestors stood surrounded by barricades, symbolizing hostages who are reported to have been kept in cages.
There are currently 115 total hostages, living and dead, being held in Gaza, according to Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. Of that number, 111 hostages were taken during the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, which killed over 1,200 people.
Israeli’s ensuing military offensive in the isolated Palestinian enclave has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians and displaced nearly 2 million, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health and the United Nations.
Family members of captives held in Gaza have harshly criticized the country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach to the conflict. In a statement released Saturday, an association representing the families accused the Israeli leader of choosing “to escalate the situation instead of securing a deal that would save lives.”
Anger and impatience over the slow pace of hostage releases from Gaza flared this week following a new report that Israeli Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu clashed with top advisors on whether to accept a new hostage and ceasefire deal, which the Israeli Prime Minister Office has rejected as “incorrect.”
Israel’s Channel 12 reported that, at a tense meeting of Israel’s security council on Wednesday night, senior officials had urged Netanyahu to take a hostage and ceasefire deal with Gaza militant group Hamas.
The report claimed that Mossad director David Barnea had said “there is a deal ready and that Israel must take it,” while Ronen Bar, the head of Israeli security agency Shin Bet, said it appeared to him the prime minister did not want the outline of the deal on the table.
Netanyahu reportedly banged on the table and said the team “don’t know how to conduct negotiations.”
The Prime Minister’s office refuted the characterization of the alleged exchange in a statement, and said that Netanyahu is committed to the hostages’ release. “The head of the Mossad did not say that there was a deal ready and that it should be accepted. The description that Hamas supposedly agreed to the terms of the deal is false…” it said.
Netanyahu’s office on Saturday released another statement accusing “leaks and false briefings in the media” of misleading the public, and blaming Hamas for hindering negotiations. “While Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed to the deal outline, Hamas has been trying to introduce dozens of changes that, de facto, nullify the outline,” the statement said.
After the report was broadcast, families of hostages demanded to know “who is obstructing the negotiations,” in a statement, and called for a public report on efforts to secure a hostage release deal.