Thousands of people are once again protesting in Israel for a hostage agreement that will enable the 101 people who were abducted by Hamas back to the Gaza Strip. After 344 days, time is running out.
Faced with the lack of progress in the indirect negotiations for a ceasefire in the Gaza war and the release of the hostages held by the radical Islamist Hamas, thousands of people have once again taken to the streets of Israel. There were demonstrations in a number of cities.
In Tel Aviv in the evening, a half-minute audio recording of an Israeli soldier, who was recently found in the Gaza Strip and was the first sign of life for the family, was played. In the recording, the soldier asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to exchange Hamas prisoners in Israeli prisons for Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip.
The slogan of the demonstration in Tel Aviv was: “We will not let them down – we will not give up.” On posters, demonstrators demanded, for example, “Take her home,” while another poster read: “Take her from hell.” 101 of the hostages kidnapped in the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023 are still in the Gaza Strip. It is not known how many of them are still alive almost a year after their capture.
Michal Lobanov, the widow of one of the hostages who was killed two weeks ago, spoke of the shock following the release of a military video about living conditions in the tunnel near Rafah where the bodies of the six hostages who were killed were found. “It was possible to save them through an agreement,” he emphasized. She does not want pity, but instead insists that “you do everything so that the end is different from other women, from the hostages.”
The indirect negotiations for a ceasefire and the release of the hostages – in which Egypt, the USA and the Gulf state of Qatar are the main mediators – are currently on hold.
According to Palestinian sources, at least eleven people were killed in an air strike attributed to Israel in Gaza city. Hospital doctors in Gaza said the victims included four minors and three women. The bullet hit a family’s house in the Tuffah area. The information could not be independently verified initially. The Israeli military initially made no comment on the incident.
According to a spokesman for the army, the Israeli Air Force also attacked several weapons depots of the Hezbollah militia inside Lebanon in the evening. The attacks were carried out in the areas of the Bekaa Valley and the city of Baalbek, about 140 kilometers from the border, he said. The area is considered a Hezbollah stronghold. Hezbollah weapons depots were also attacked in seven different locations in southern Lebanon.
Since the war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Islamist Hamas began almost a year ago, there have been military clashes almost every day between the Israeli army and Hezbollah in the border area between the two countries. There were deaths on both sides – most of them were members of Hezbollah. Hezbollah says it is acting in solidarity with Hamas.
The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre with more than 1,200 deaths committed by terrorists from Islamist Hamas and other groups in Israel on October 7th. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 41,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war began. The information does not distinguish between civilians and fighters.
Meanwhile, Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who was killed by Israeli soldiers during a protest against a settlement outpost more than a week ago, was laid to rest in Turkey.
The Israeli army admitted a few days ago that the woman, according to the current findings, had been shot unintentionally. According to Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc, Turkey opened its own investigation into the activist’s death. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken harshly criticized Israel in connection with Eygi’s death.
