Families of Israeli hostages invite people to join protests for swap deal, Netanyahu's resignation

By Said Amori

JERUSALEM (AA) – Families of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip on Saturday invited people to join their protests, demanding that the government reach a hostage swap deal with the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

“(On) Saturday evening, we will all stand together and issue a joint call to the government demanding the conclusion of the deal now,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.

They added, “We don't have much time,” urging Israelis “to participate in the central demonstrations in Tel Aviv.”

The families of Israeli hostages accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government of “abandoning their sons and leaving them to die” following the announcement by the Al-Qassam Brigades that a British hostage had died as a result of injuries sustained in an Israeli airstrike a month ago.

During a press conference held in front of the Ministry of Defense headquarters in the Kirya area of central Tel Aviv, one of the hostages' relatives said, "The government has abandoned our sons and left them to die, after deciding to enter Rafah (southern Gaza), which puts their lives at risk."

She added, “As long as Netanyahu is in power, the hostages will not return; he does not want them back in the homeland.”

Another close relative of one of the hostages said at the press conference that "the ministers in the Security Cabinet Gallant, Gantz, and Eisenkot allow Netanyahu to sabotage deals, and they are also complicit in neglect."

A close relative of another hostage blamed Netanyahu for leading them to complete failure, saying, "There is no clear strategy for the war so far. If we want to save the detainees, we must first save Israel from Netanyahu."

He added, "Today we received a new testimony from one of our hostages showing the miserable condition of the detainees,” without specifying how he received it.

For months, Egypt and Qatar have been mediating indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement on a hostage swap deal and a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

Tel Aviv believes 134 Israelis are being held in Gaza, while Israel is holding 9,000 Palestinians in its jails.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip following Palestinian resistance group Hamas' cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people.

Nearly 34,950 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have since been killed, and nearly 78,600 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Seven months into the conflict, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Tel Aviv is committing genocide in Gaza, ordering it to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

South Africa on Friday asked the ICJ to order Israel to withdraw from Rafah as part of additional emergency measures over the war.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala