Key PointsThe families of Israeli hostages arrived in Jerusalem on Saturday at the end of a five-day march.The march confronted the government over the plight of those taken captive by Hamas in Gaza.Around 240 people – from babies to grandparents and including foreign nationals – are believed to be in the Gaza Strip.
The families of Israeli hostages and thousands of their supporters arrived in Jerusalem on Saturday at the end of a five-day march to confront the government over
On Saturday (local time), the Washington Post reported that Israel, the US and Hamas have reached a tentative agreement to free dozens of women and children being held hostage.
Citing people familiar with the deal, the US outlet reported that the release would be on the basis of a five-day pause in fighting in the territory.
Hamas has taken at least 240 people hostage in Gaza, including women, children and the elderly, according to the Israel Defense Force. Source: AAP / Abir Sultan/EPA
However, White House National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson denied that any such deal has been reached.
An estimated 20,000 marchers, including well-wishers who joined the procession along the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway, want to put pressure on the government “to do everything they can to bring the hostages back”, said Noam Alon, 25, clutching a photograph of his abducted girlfriend, Inbar.
“We are expecting them to meet with us, we are expecting them to tell us how they are going to do it,” he said. “We cannot wait any longer, so we are demand(ing) them to do that now, to pay any price to bring the hostages back.”
Around 240 people – from babies to grandparents and including foreign nationals – are believed to be in the Gaza Strip after being taken hostage by the Islamist group during a 7 October raid on southern Israeli villages and army bases in which 1,200 people were killed.
More than 12,300 Palestinians have been killed in
on Gaza, according to the health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza.
The significant escalation is the latest boiling point in a long-standing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Many relatives and friends of the missing fear they will come to harm in Israeli attacks on Gaza designed to destroy Hamas. The government says the offensive improves the chances of recovering hostages, perhaps via a prisoner exchange.
“I feel that people think that there is time, but for babies and for elderly people with difficult complex needs, there’s no time, time is running out rapidly,” said London-based artist Sharone Lifschitz, whose 83-year-old father was abducted.
Many Israelis blame their government for being blindsided by the Hamas assault.
Among those who marched to Jerusalem was centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid, who has been mostly supportive of the war but has the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Miki Zohar, a member of Netanyahu’s cabinet and party, was on Friday when he visited the marchers at a rest stop.
Hamas, which in the early days of the war threatened to execute hostages in retaliation for Israeli air strikes, has since said some of the hostages have been killed in attacks on Gaza.
That has stoked the anxiety of campaigners and relatives calling on the Israeli government to speed up any prisoner swap, and frustration with Netanyahu’s insistence that discretion is required around the Qatari- and Egyptian-mediated negotiations.
“It’s impossible that there are 240 kidnapped people and the government – our government – isn’t talking to (the relatives), isn’t telling them what’s going on, what’s on the table, what’s on offer, what are the reasons for and against. Nothing,” said campaigner Stevie Kerem.
Despite the exhaustion and frustration on display, one marcher allowed herself a note of optimism.
“I’m happy with the fact that we have the whole of Israel around us,” said Meirav Leshem-Gonen, whose daughter Romi, 23, is among the hostages. “This is what will count in the end.”
