Thousands throng Jerusalem to press Netanyahu to make hostage release deal

More than 15,000 people have taken to the streets in Israel to call for an end to the war in Gaza and urge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a deal to free the remaining hostages.

Families and supporters of the hostages still being held by Hamas thronged Jerusalem’s Paris Square, with others gathering in Tel Aviv.

Of the 48 hostages still being held in Gaza, as many as 20 are believed to be alive.

Israel has yet to formally respond to a deal that would see the release of some hostages, but has previously demanded the return of all the hostages in any agreement.

Netanyahu insists total victory over Hamas will bring the hostages home.

Hamas took 251 hostages back to Gaza after its attack in southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which some 1,200 people died.

Israel launched a massive retaliation campaign to destroy Hamas which has resulted in the death of at least 64,368 Palestinians, according to figures from the Hamas-run health ministry. The UN considers the figures reliable, although Israel disputes them.

Voices of protest on Israeli streets and international demands from some of its allies to stop the military offensive in Gaza have been growing steadily.

Yet all the signs are that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is preparing to intensify the war, as the Netanyahu government vows to gain full control of the Gaza Strip and finally defeat Hamas.

On Saturday night, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem saw some of the biggest protests in recent months calling for the release of remaining hostages and an end to the war.

Within earshot of Netanyahu’s residence in the city, speaker after speaker called for him to strike a deal with Hamas that would see the safe return of their loved ones, almost two years after their abduction.

Among the many family members with angry messages for Netanyahu was the mother of Matan Angrest, an IDF soldier being held in Gaza.

“This is not a threat, Mr Prime Minister. If something happens, you will pay for it -this is a mother’s word,” shouted Anat Angrest, the Times of Israel reported.

Many protesters say the expansion of the war will further endanger the hostages’ lives.

If Netanyahu was in his nearby Jerusalem home, the appeals from parents and supporters appear to be falling on deaf ears.

Israel’s beleaguered but resolute prime minister has shown no sign of ending the war, even though many former military leaders have repeatedly said the IDF has probably achieved as much as it can militarily in Gaza, without further endangering the lives of hostages and exacerbating the desperate humanitarian crisis there.

That is a view, reportedly, also held by many serving army generals but they are now being asked by their government to prepare for a huge land incursion to overrun Gaza City and the rest of the war-damaged Palestinian enclave.

Netanyahu’s Defence Minister Israel Katz has repeatedly taken to social media in recent days, posting videos of high-rise buildings in Gaza City being blown-up with the blunt message that this was just the start.

Israel justifies the destruction of Gaza’s most prominent buildings because it says they are used by Hamas as “command and control centres”.

It denies accusations of implementing a “scorched-earth” policy – the systematic destruction of public buildings and homes to make Gaza practically uninhabitable.

Katz had earlier threatened to “open the gates of hell” as Israel warned Gaza City’s residents to leave for the so-called “humanitarian enclave” of al-Mawasi, further south.

But nowhere in Gaza can realistically be described as “safe” and al-Mawasi has itself been repeatedly targeted by Israeli air strikes in which dozens of people have been killed – many, including several children, in the past week.

It is against this backdrop that many of Israel’s allies have repeatedly called for an end to the fighting in Gaza and an urgent return to ceasefire negotiations.

“We are extremely concerned about the humanitarian disaster in Gaza and that’s why we repeat our calls for Israel to stop the military offensive,” said Denmark’s Foreign Minister, Lars Rasmussen, on a visit to Jerusalem on Sunday.

That message was politely ignored by his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Sa’ar, who not so subtly warned that the intention of some European nations to recognise soon Palestinian statehood would be counterproductive and could have dire consequences.

Asked by a reporter where the Netanyahu government stood on highly controversial proposals to annex the Occupied Palestinian West Bank, Sa’ar said: “We’ve had discussions on this issue with the prime minister and there will be a decision. I don’t have to elaborate.”

The foreign minister also said he had recently spoken to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the matter, amid other reports citing US officials, including Mike Huckabee – the high-profile US ambassador to Israel – who indicated that the Trump administration would not “tell Israel what to do” if it chose to declare sovereignty over much of the West Bank.

If that did happen, tensions in an already divided region would move up a notch or two.

The number of dead in Gaza continues to rise as Israel’s position hardens.

At least 87 people were killed over the past 24 hours in air strikes across Gaza, according to local officials.

The Gaza health ministry also reported that five people had died during the same period, including three children, from famine and malnutrition.

Against this backdrop, Netanyahu digs in deep.

“If I have to choose between victory over our enemies and evil propaganda against us – I choose victory, ” the prime minister said on Sunday as he made clear Israeli troops were “deepening manoeuvres” around and inside Gaza City.