Hundreds of Israeli students protest in Tel Aviv to demand prisoner swap with Palestinians

By Anadolu staff

JERUSALEM (AA) – Hundreds of Israeli school students demonstrated in Tel Aviv on Wednesday to demand a prisoner swap deal with Palestinians.

According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, hundreds of students participated in a rally in Tel Aviv to call for a deal to guarantee the release of Israeli captives in Gaza.

The rally, which families of the hostages joined, was part of a nationwide initiative that includes 200 schools that plan to hold protests in several areas across Israel.

Israeli officials have reported progress in indirect negotiations to reach a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.

Hamas said Tuesday that talks held in Qatar to reach a deal were “positive and serious.”

“Reaching a cease-fire and prisoner exchange agreement is possible if the (Israeli) occupation stops imposing new conditions,” it added in a brief statement.

Israel, which according to prisoners’ groups has more than 10,000 Palestinians in its prisons, estimates that there are around 100 Israeli captives in Gaza. Hamas has said that 33 captives had been killed in indiscriminate Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.

Mediation efforts led by the US, Egypt and Qatar to reach a cease-fire have so far failed due to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to halt the war on Gaza.

Israel has continued a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed more than 45,000 people, most of them women and children, since an attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.

Last month, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel is also facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar