Israeli protesters block roads to demand swap deal with Hamas

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli demonstrators blocked several roads across Israel on Thursday to demand early elections and a swap deal with Palestinian group Hamas.

The country’s main coastal road, Route 2, linking between Tel Aviv and Haifa, was blocked in both directions, causing traffic jams, the Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported.

The protest was part of planned demonstrations on Thursday to pile pressure on the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold early elections and reach a deal with Palestinians to secure the release of Israelis held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Protests are planned to take place near the residences of members of Netanyahu’s Likud Party, according to Haaretz newspaper.

Israel estimates that around 120 Israeli hostages are held by Hamas in Gaza.

The Israeli opposition accuses Netanyahu of pursuing policies that serve his personal interests and failure to achieve his declared goals from the Gaza war, including the destruction of Hamas and the release of hostages.

Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt, have so far failed to agree on a permanent cease-fire that allows a prisoner swap between Israelis and Palestinians.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

More than 37,700 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and nearly 86,400 others injured, according to local health authorities.

More than eight months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

​​​​​​​Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara