AL-QUDS (Dispatches) – Tens of thousands protested in central Tel Aviv to demand a deal that would secure the release of all captives in the Gaza Strip, according to media reports.
The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said demonstrators marched from Captives Square in central Tel Aviv toward the U.S. Embassy branch on HaYarkon Street, demanding a comprehensive agreement.
The newspaper reported that protesters carried banners and chanted for an end to the war and the immediate return of the captives.
Former captives released by Hamas also reportedly took part in the march.
Participants issued direct appeals to Israeli regime officials and U.S. President Donald Trump to move toward finalizing a comprehensive deal.
The newspaper said hundreds of demonstrators held similar protests in other areas, including Karkur Junction and Rothschild Street in Caesarea in the north.
Families of the captives held in the Gaza Strip on Sunday voiced deep concern over reports that the Israeli military is preparing for a new aggression in central Gaza.
Their remarks followed the army’s first-ever evacuation orders for Palestinian civilians in Deir al-Balah, a densely populated area in the heart of the enclave.
“We are anxious and frightened by reports that the army intends to expand operations into areas of central Gaza that have so far remained untouched,” the families said in a statement.
“Can anyone guarantee that this decision won’t come at the cost of our loved ones’ lives?” they asked, in a veiled rebuke of the regime’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom they accuse of prolonging the war for political survival and bowing to far-right pressure.
They called on Netanyahu, war minister Israel Katz, and senior military officials to urgently explain the combat strategy to the Israeli public — and clarify how it ensures the safety of the hostages still held in Gaza.
“For the captives, this is not just a bargaining chip in negotiations,” the families warned. “It’s a very real and immediate threat to their lives.”
The former war minister of the Zionist regime Avigdor Lieberman accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday of seeking to prolong the Gaza war until elections.
Lieberman, leader of the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu Party, said internal pressure will be directed at Netanyahu after the captives taken by Hamas in October 2023 are returned and the war ends.
“Netanyahu wants to prolong the war until the elections,” Lieberman told Israel’s public broadcaster KAN.
The former minister did not specify whether he meant elections after Netanyahu’s term ends in December 2026 or early polls that might take place at the end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026.
“It is not possible to eliminate Hamas without first returning all the captives (in Gaza) at once,” he added.
Indirect negotiations started on July 6 in the Qatari capital, Doha, to reach an agreement that includes a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange between Hamas and the Zionist regime.