Rally in Tel Aviv demands release of captives in Gaza, marking 200 days of their captivity

By Anadolu staff

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli citizens and families of captives held in Gaza rallied on Tuesday in Tel Aviv, demanding the Israeli government strike a prisoner swap deal with the Hamas group, as they reach the 200-day captivity mark.

According to the Times of Israel news website, the families of the captives and their supporters painted their hands red and held them up to the sky in an act of protest at the city’s HaBima Square.

The rally also called on the government to act to secure their release.

The Israeli opposition as well as families of the captives accuse Premier Netanyahu of hindering an agreement with the Hamas group for his own political reasons.

In early April, Hamas said Israel's position over the cease-fire talks remains “intransigent.”

“The Israeli position remains intransigent and has not responded to any of the demands of our people and our resistance,” Hamas said.

Tel Aviv believes 134 Israelis are being held in Gaza, while Israel is holding not less than 9,100 Palestinians in its jails.

Indirect talks between Israel and the Hamas group are taking place in both Cairo and Doha aimed at reaching a deal that includes a prisoner swap under which the Israeli captives will be released in exchange for Palestinians release from Israeli jails.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Palestinian territory since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas which killed nearly 1,200 people.

Over 34,150 Palestinians have since been killed and more than 77,000 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war, now in its 200th day, has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar