Israelis again demonstrate for hostage deal

Thousands of people have demonstrated again in Israel for the release of the hostages held by Hamas.

“To our beloved hostages, if you can hear us, everyone here loves you. Stay strong. Survive,” Rachel Goldberg-Polin said in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening.

Her son, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, was abducted by the Palestinian Islamist Hamas from a music festival in southern Israel and taken to the Gaza Strip, where Hamas militants murdered him about three months ago.

At a nearby rally in the coastal metropolis, hundreds demonstrated again against Israel’s government, accusing it of dragging out the Gaza war for no reason and endangering the lives of the remaining hostages.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu relies on his far-right and ultra-religious coalition partners for his political survival, and they are opposed to a deal with Hamas.

In Jerusalem, too, hundreds demonstrated again in favour of a deal with the Islamist organization that would see the release of those kidnapped from Israel on October 7 last year.

According to estimates, about half of the approximately 100 remaining hostages in the Gaza Strip are still alive.