Several family members of the 116 hostages who remain detained in the Gaza Strip blocked the Ayalon highway in Tel Aviv this Thursday, demanding an agreement for the release of those kidnapped and the end of the current government.
A group made up of a dozen people blocked the road, which was full of vehicles, for around 20 minutes and displayed a banner with the phrase: “Enough with the Government of Destruction”.
This protest was replicated in some other parts of the country, such as on Highway 4, near Netanya, where a group of people burned tires, demanded an agreement for a truce and early elections.
These demonstrations come hours after, on Wednesday night, the Islamist group Hamas confirmed that it sent to the mediators of the conflict in Gaza, Egypt and Qatar, an updated response to the latest truce proposal, which was later shared with the Israeli Government.
Several Israeli media assured this Thursday that this is a positive proposal and that “could be worked on” to achieve a truce agreement, declared a source close to the negotiations on Israeli public radio Kan.
Other media, such as the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, today highlighted tensions between the negotiating group and the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after senior officials allegedly blamed the head of government and its extremist ministers from trying to thwart any hostage deal.
Relatives of the hostages, such as Simona Steinbreche – who is the mother of Doron, who was kidnapped from kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7 – demanded that Netanyahu not “destroy” the possibility of an agreement.
“There are hostages who are dying and every day we fear that more people will be killed in captivity,” Steinbrecher told Israeli public radio today.
“Many times, there was a feeling that an agreement would be reached soon, and each time, someone destroyed it,” he added.
For months now, every Saturday, family members and anti-government activists have taken to the streets asking the Israeli Government to listen to them and return the hostages. According to estimates made by US authorities, only 50 are alive in Gaza.
