TEL AVIV, August 24. /TASS/. Israelis again took to the streets en masse, demanding that the government immediately conclude the deal on releasing hostages in the Gaza Strip and hold snap elections.
A massive rally is taking place near the government compound in Tel Aviv, a TASS correspondent reported.
According to the Times of Israel, similar rallies are being held in a number of other cities as well as along major highways across the country.
As Dmitry Gendelman, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, told TASS earlier on Saturday, a visit by an Israeli delegation to the next round of talks in Cairo on hostages held by Hamas is slated for August 25. According to him, the delegation will be led by Mossad director David Barnea.
Another round of Gaza ceasefire and hostage release consultations was held in Doha on August 15 and 16. The leaders of Egypt, Qatar, and the United States said in their joint statement after the talks that the negotiations had been held in a positive atmosphere. During the consultations, the US, supported by Qatar and Egypt, presented a proposal allowing to resolve differences between Hamas and Israel, according to its text. However, Hamas stated that the new US initiative takes into account Israel’s interests only.
Saturday rallies supporting the hostages have been regularly held in Israel since October 2023. The largest ones take place in Tel Aviv, with many other cities and towns, including Jerusalem, Haifa and Caesarea, following suit.
According to the Israeli side, 109 people are still being held hostage in the Gaza Strip.
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza-based Palestinian radical group Hamas staged a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel has declared a state of war readiness; announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians; and began delivering air strikes on the enclave and certain parts of Lebanon and Syria, followed by a ground operation in the enclave. Clashes are underway in the West Bank as well.