Thousands of people called for the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Saturday night (3), in the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and Beer Sheva, and demanded the return of the 136 hostages who remain in the Gaza Strip after 120 days of war in Palestine after the Hamas terrorist attack.
In Tel Aviv, in the so-called Hostage Square and under the slogan “120 days below ground”, in reference to the Hamas tunnels in the Palestinian enclave, where it is believed that the prisoners may still be held, the relatives of the hostages demanded from Netanyahu the return of family members through negotiation with terrorists.
“For my generation to believe in this country, they need to come back now, Bring them home at any cost! Do everything possible, everything, to bring Itay and the rest of the hostages home alive”, said a girl from 15 years old, cousin of hostage Itay Chen, who celebrated his 20th birthday last week in captivity.
Of the 136 people still in the hands of Hamas following the Islamic group's brutal terrorist attack on Israeli soil on October 7 last year, at least 27 of them are believed to be dead, according to intelligence services, including those killed by Israeli fire during the great war offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Both in Tel Aviv and in simultaneous protests in other cities across the country, protesters also demanded the resignation of Netanyahu, whom they accuse of mismanagement and blame for the attack that took Israel by surprise.
Writer and historian Fania Oz-Salzberger, daughter of acclaimed Israeli writer Amos Oz, participated in the protest in the northern city of Haifa and said that Israelis will not rest until the “government of catastrophe and massacre” ends in the “basement of the worst memories of the people of Israel” and better leadership begins.
In the southern city of Beer Sheva, located just 40 kilometers from the Gaza Strip, around 400 protesters demanded “early elections” and a change of government, according to the “Haaretz” newspaper. “We deserve leadership with broad and united support that gives hope and begins the healing process that this nation and this country so desperately needs,” commented Moshe Radman Abutbul, one of the best-known leaders of the recent protests against judicial reform.
Israel and Hamas have been negotiating a ceasefire for days that would involve the release of all hostages, but so far there appears to be no agreement between the parties, despite mediation from Qatar, the United States and Egypt, on the duration of the truce or the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released for each hostage.
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