Thousands of Israelis protest to demand hostage swap deal with Palestinian factions

JERUSALEM 

Thousands of protesters demonstrated Saturday in Israel to demand a hostage swap deal with Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip.

The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said hundreds demonstrated in front of the home of Interior Minister Aryeh Deri in Jerusalem, where protesters held up signs that read: “Make a deal or resign.”

In Kfar Saba in northern Israel, thousands demanded a deal and early elections.

Hundreds more protested in Rehovot near Tel Aviv, wanting an immediate deal to release 115 hostages in Gaza.

Tel Aviv estimates that there are 115 Israeli hostages in Gaza, while Hamas has said that more than 70 were killed in random airstrikes by Israel, which holds at least 9,500 Palestinians in custody.

With mediation by Egypt and Qatar and the US, Israel and Hamas have been engaged in stalled indirect negotiations for months on a cease-fire and prisoner exchange deal.

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 the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

More than 39,500 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 91,000 injured, according to local health authorities.

Almost 10 months into the Israeli war, 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, which ordered it to immediately halt its military 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 Rania Abu Shamala​​​​​​​