“STAY STRONG”
Recent videos released by Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad showing two weak and emaciated captives have heightened concern for the fate of the hostages.
Egypt said in recent days that mediators were leading a renewed push to secure a 60-day truce that would include a hostage release after the last round of talks in Qatar ended without a breakthrough.
Viki Cohen, whose son Nimrod is held in Gaza, said in a post on X addressing him: “I hope you have access to the media somewhere in the tunnels, and that you will see how the people of Israel pause life today for you and for the hostages. Stay strong, just a little more.”
Speaking at a rally in Tel Aviv, Israeli President Issac Herzog said “we want them back as soon as possible”, calling for international pressure on Hamas.
However, some government members who oppose any deal with Hamas slammed Sunday’s demonstrations.
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich decried “a perverse and harmful campaign that plays into the hands of Hamas”.
He argued that public pressure to secure a deal effectively “buries the hostages in tunnels and seeks to push the State of Israel to surrender to its enemies and jeopardise its security and future”.
Culture Minister Miki Zohar, of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, said on X that blocking roads and disrupting daily life “is a serious mistake and a reward to the enemy”.
Israeli police beefed up forces, saying no “public order disturbances” would be tolerated.
