No clarity over resumption of talks for hostage deal
Hostage families, supporters rally in Tel Aviv
Protesters took to the streets in many cities on Saturday night throughout the country, demanding an immediate hostage release deal and new elections.
Demonstrators blocked traffic in Karkur, while protests went on in Beersheba, Kfar Saba, Caesarea, Herzliya, Netanya, Zikhron Ya’acov, and Tel Aviv – where the largest and main protest was on Kaplan Street.
Protesters also wrote out a large message in Tel Aviv calling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government a “complete disgrace.”
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid went to the Hostages Square and then arrived at Begin Bridge in Tel Aviv to join the demonstrations. Anti-Defamation League Director Jonathan Greenblatt also attended the demonstration in the Hostages Square and spoke about the rising antisemitism worldwide.
“As long as our brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers remain captive in Gaza, we will not be silent,” Greenblatt said. “Our hearts and our thoughts are with you constantly. I didn’t just put on these [hostage] dog tags to come here tonight. I wear them every single day.”
Notable protesters at the demonstrations included dozens of former IDF observers – a position that some of the young female hostages who were seen being taken captive by Hamas in a video that was recently released, were serving at the time of their kidnapping.
The former observers joined the families of hostages in the Square. They arrived at the protest wearing yellow shirts to support the families and tell them, “You are not alone.”
The protests came as prospects for a resumption of mediated Gaza ceasefire talks grew on Saturday since an official with knowledge of the matter said a decision had been taken to resume the talks this week after the chief of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency met with the head of the CIA and the prime minister of Qatar.
The source, who declined to be identified by name or nationality, said it had been decided that “in the coming week, negotiations will open based on new proposals led by the mediators – Egypt and Qatar – and with active US involvement.”
A Hamas official later denied Israeli media reports that the talks would resume in Cairo on Tuesday, telling Reuters: “There is no [set] date.”
After more than seven months of war in Gaza, the mediators have struggled to secure a breakthrough, with Israel seeking the release of hostages held by Hamas and Hamas looking for an end to the war and a release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel.