WEST BANK (Dispatches) – Thousands of Israelis rallied in central Tel Aviv, calling on the regime to end the war on Gaza and secure the immediate release of captives held in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that in Tel Aviv, the Captives and Missing Families Forum, an Israeli campaign group, held its weekly rally Saturday in “Captives Square”, while another demonstration by families of captives is taking place outside the Israeli military headquarters.
A separate anti-regime protest also occurred at Habima Square in Tel Aviv.
The Times of Israel reported that Shai Mozes, whose parents were held captive and released in separate exchange deals, told the crowd at the protest in Habima Square that Israel’s “real enemy is not Hamas, but prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is destroying Israel.”
Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut, reporting from Amman, Jordan, said that “family members of Israeli captives still held in Gaza say that Netanyahu is still prolonging the war for personal and political gain, and that he’s the one who’s not willing to compromise when it comes to any sort of cease fire deal”.
“There are still 59 captives held in Gaza, 35 of whom Israeli officials say are confirmed dead, and 21 that are presumed alive, and three whose fate is still unknown”, she said.
“Israeli officials say that they are going to be expanding their assault in Gaza and not heading toward any sort of ceasefire deal just yet, saying that the best way to bring about the release of those captives is through military means, something that the family members of captives and the larger portion of Israeli society do not agree with” she said.
After Netanyahu announced an expanded aggression in the Gaza Strip on Monday, the Captives and Missing Families Forum criticized the move in a statement, saying the plan is “sacrificing” those still held in the Palestinian territory.
Haaretz also reported that protests were planned in other cities, including Al-Quds, Haifa, and Beersheba, as well as at dozens of other sites and intersections across the Israeli-occupied territories.
Hamas’s armed wing released a video on Saturday showing two Israeli captives alive in the Gaza Strip, with one of the two men calling to end the 19-month-long war.
The pair were identified as Elkana Bohbot and Yosef Haim Ohana, who were taken captive during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 operation on Israel.
The undated three-minute video footage released by Hamas’s Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades shows one of the captives, 36-year-old Bohbot, visibly weak and lying on the floor wrapped in a blanket.
The second, Ohana, 24, speaks in Hebrew urging the Zionist regime to end the war in Gaza and secure the release of all remaining captives -- a similar message to statements made by other captives in previous videos released by Hamas.