Camille Naredo

Thousands protest in Israel for Gaza hostage deal

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

JERUSALEM -- Thousands of Israelis demonstrated Saturday for a deal to release the remaining hostages still held in Gaza after more than 14 months of war against Hamas in the Palestinian territory.&quot;We all can agree that we have failed until now and that we can reach an agreement now,&quot; Lior Ashkenazi, a prominent Israeli actor, told a crowd gathered in the commercial hub of Tel Aviv.Itzik Horn, whose sons Eitan and Iair are still being held captive in Gaza, said: &quot;End the war, the time has arrived for action and the time has arrived to bring everyone home.&quot;There has been guarded optimism in recent days that a ceasefire and hostage release deal for Gaza might finally be within reach after months of abortive mediation efforts.Palestinian militants abducted 251 hostages during Hamas&#x27;s October 2023 attack, 96 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2024/12/13/israeli-envoy-claims-unrwa-employing-hamas-militants-1724">READ: Israeli envoy claims UNRWA employing Hamas militants</a></div>Qatar, a key mediator in the negotiations, said last week there was new &quot;momentum&quot; for talks.US Security of State Antony Blinken said during a visit to Jordan on Saturday: &quot;This is the moment to finally conclude that agreement.&quot;In Egypt, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met on Saturday with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Middle East envoy Brett McGurk.&quot;The meeting addressed efforts to reach an agreement for a ceasefire and prisoner exchange in Gaza,&quot; Sisi&#x27;s office said.The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas&#x27;s attack last year that resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.Israel&#x27;s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 44,930 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory&#x27;s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.<div>© Agence France-Presse</div>

Thousands of Israelis demonstrated Saturday for a deal to release the remaining hostages still held in Gaza after more than 14 months of war against Hamas in the Palestinian territory.

Thousands of Israelis demonstrated Saturday for a deal to release the remaining hostages still held in Gaza after more than 14 months of war against Hamas in the Palestinian territory.