Several thousand people demonstrated in Tel Aviv for a negotiated solution to release the Israeli hostages held by the Islamist Hamas. “Rafah can wait – she can’t,” read one banner at the rally, according to Israeli media reports.
Relatives of hostages also spoke at the demonstration, calling on the Israeli government to reach a ceasefire and bring the hostages back. “We are parents who want our children back home,” said the father of a soldier abducted on October 7th. If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t bring the hostages back, he will have their blood on his hands.
“Stop the bloodshed,” reportedly demanded the daughter-in-law of a man abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz. “Make a deal and bring her home.”
Biden urges negotiating partners for hostage agreements
US President Joe Biden has urged his negotiating partners Qatar and Egypt to conclude a hostage agreement with the Islamist Hamas. Biden called on Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to “make every effort to secure the release of the hostages held by Hamas,” the White House said. This is currently the only obstacle to a ceasefire and aid to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.
If an agreement accepted by Israel were to come about, the USA would work to ensure that it was adhered to, it said. Biden also emphasized in a conversation with al-Sisi that Palestinians should not be expelled to Egypt or any other place outside the Gaza Strip.
Biden’s spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre had previously called on Hamas to agree to the proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza war. “There has been new progress in the talks in recent days, and right now the onus is really on Hamas. There is an offer on the table and they must accept it,” she said.
Ceasefire offer – will Hamas agree?
According to British Foreign Minister David Cameron, Hamas has made an offer for a 40-day ceasefire. In return for the release of hostages held by Hamas, “potentially thousands” of Palestinians should be released from Israeli prisons.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is currently traveling in the region, spoke of a “very, very generous” proposal from Israel. A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo yesterday to negotiate the latest proposal.
