Protests intensify in Israel as desperation mounts for hostage deal

Government under pressure to reach Gaza ceasefire agreement in recently renewed talks with Hamas

Artwork in Tel Aviv portraying the plight of Israeli hostages in Gaza. Reuters

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Protests were held across Israel on Monday to increase pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure a hostage deal amid fears his government is not engaging with new talks to release those held captive by Hamas in Gaza.

Demonstrations took place outside the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in Jerusalem, where relatives of people killed at the Nova music festival on October 7 tore their shirts, an act of mourning for Jews.

“We lost our children, the most precious thing,” Shimon Buskila, who son was killed in the Hamas attack at the festival, told The Times of Israel.

"You could not keep them safe and now for nine months there is no progress, nothing is happening."

Speaking outside the Knesset, Yair Golan, who leads a new bloc of left-wing parties, accused the Prime Minister of abandoning a deal due to fears an agreement would "dismantle Netanyahu's government".

"If we don't take to the streets with all force right now, the abandonment of our sisters and brothers will continue," he said. "Now is the time to intensify the protest."

Residents in the central city of Rehovot turned out en masse on Monday to show support for Israeli hostage Nimrod Cohen on his 20th birthday. His father vowed to follow and demonstrate against Mr Netanyahu on forthcoming trip to the US.

Transport Minister Miri Regev was met with a crowd of furious demonstrators who shouted "the hostages have been forsaken", when he arrived at an opening ceremony for a section of a motorway targeted by Hamas on October 7.

The demonstrations on Monday came soon after the conclusion of a four-day march on Jerusalem during which thousands of protesters called for the government to prioritise reaching a deal with Hamas to free hostages seized by the group during its attack on southern Israel.

Outside Mr Netanyahu’s office at the end of the march, Einav Zangauker, the mother of 24-year-old hostage Matan Zangauker, accused the Prime Minister of “time after time, trying to separate me from Matan”.

Despite Mr Netanyahu repeatedly saying Israel is committed only to “total victory” against Hamas, more than two- thirds of Israelis favour securing the return of hostages over continued fighting, according to a poll published on Friday.

On Sunday, military chief of staff Herzi Halevi made his preference for a deal clear, saying in a statement: “An agreement for the return of the hostages is an urgent moral imperative to save lives.”

The stark comment puts Israel's most senior soldier in the middle of the deeply political debate about the future of the war, at a time when he is already facing criticism from sections of the Israeli right.

“The [Israeli military] is creating the pressure to create the best conditions for such an agreement,” Mr Halevi added.

“The [military] will know how to abide by any agreement that is approved by the political echelon, and even after a ceasefire, to return and fight with great intensity,” he said, seeking to counter the argument made by many in the government that a hostage deal would effectively end the Gaza war and hand victory to Hamas.

The growing protest movement to release Israeli hostages in Gaza has been issuing desperate calls for action, as fears mount that Mr Netanyahu is attempting to sabotage a new round of talks with Hamas, which international mediators hoped would bring a breakthrough after a previous hostage deal collapsed in December.

Doubt was cast over the future of the discussions on Saturday, after Israel launched a massive strike in Gaza that killed at least 90 Palestinians, most of them civilians, while talks were taking place.

The strike hit a displacement camp in Al Mawasi, an area Israeli forces had designated a “safe zone”.

The strike intended to kill two senior Hamas commanders, including military chief Mohammed Deif, the second most important target for Israel after Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.

The Israeli military has not yet confirmed that Mr Deif is dead.

Hamas has in the past suspended its participation in negotiations for up to 72 hours to protest against "massacres" committed by Israeli forces in Gaza, according to sources.

Mr Sinwar this year refused to take calls or respond to messages for days while mourning the victims of one such "massacre", they said.

Hamas, they said, was counselled by Egyptian mediators to immediately return to the negotiations after it briefly withdrew at the weekend in protest over the strike in Al Mawasi.

Hamas will hurt only itself at this point of the war if it withdraws from the negotiations, said the sources.

"Progress has been made in the negotiations, Israel is suffering its worst international isolation in decades, major western powers are contemplating recognising Palestine and society in Israel is putting pressure on Netanyahu over the hostages," said one of the sources.

"It has many bargaining chips now and it will be a pity for it to lose them."

However, the sources also said Hamas's perceived reluctance to abandon the negotiations is rooted in the fatigue from more than nine months of fighting.

Israel appears to be partially focused now on strikes targeting Hamas leaders and their families, regardless of the casualties among civilians, to whip up anti-Hamas sentiment and reduce the support it has in the territory, they said.

Mr Netanyahu has backed the strikes, saying Israel is witnessing "clear cracks in Hamas, under the powerful blows we are dealing it”.

"We are seeing changes, we are seeing weakness," he added.

Israel launched more strikes on Gaza on Monday, despite widespread condemnation of Saturday's bombardment of Al Mawasi.

The death toll in Gaza now stands at more than 38,600 killed and almost 90,000 wounded.