WEST BANK (Dispatches) – Thousands protested Saturday in several cities across the occupied territories, demanding a swap agreement with Palestinian factions for the release of captives in the Gaza Strip and early parliamentary elections, according to Israeli media.
Thousands in Kaplan Square in central Tel Aviv demanded a captive deal and that the regime should not miss the opportunity again, said the regime-run broadcasting authority.
Protesters chanted: “Deal Now” and raised banners with the slogan. Around 2,000 protested in Caesarea in northern part of the occupied territories, demanding a captive agreement and early elections, it added.
The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that thousands demonstrated in several locations, including the Karqur intersection, Bat Hefer and Rehovot.
Demonstrators emphasized the need for a captive deal “as soon as possible” and to not “miss the opportunity this time”, the daily added.
The protesters also called for early parliamentary elections.
Yedioth Ahronoth, citing unnamed informed sources, reported that a negotiating team “will leave next Monday to continue negotiations on the deal”.
The head of Mossad, David Barnea, traveled to Doha on Friday for meetings with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani regarding the captive deal and ceasefire in Gaza.
Upon his return to Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that a negotiating team will depart for Qatar next week to continue discussions on the agreement.
The Zionist regime estimates around 120 Israelis are held by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, in Gaza. Israel, flouting a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal aggressions on Gaza since October 7.
More than 38,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 87,700 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Nearly nine months into the war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.