Relatives of Gaza hostages urge Netanyahu to agree

01/22/2024 06:09 (current 01/22/2024 06:09)

Relatives of the hostages pitched their tents ©APA/AFP

Relatives of hostages detained in the Gaza Strip want to use another protest to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach an agreement with Islamic Hamas. As the newspaper “The Times of Israel” reported on Monday night, family members of the more than 130 hostages set up tents on a sidewalk in front of Netanyahu's private home in Jerusalem.

A spokesman reportedly said they would remain in the tents until Netanyahu “agrees to a deal to return the hostages.” According to media reports, the United States, Egypt and Qatar are urging Israel and Hamas to begin a negotiation process that will lead to the release of hostages and the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza.

The Wall Street Journal reported that negotiations are expected to continue in Cairo in the coming days. To this end, US President Joe Biden's coordinator for the Middle East, Brett McGurk, will meet in the capital with the head of the Egyptian secret service, the New York Times reported on Monday night, citing North American officials. McGurk, who planned to leave on Sunday, would later travel to Doha to meet Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu rejected Hamas' conditions for the release of the hostages on Sunday. In return, the Islamists demanded an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli armed forces and the continuation of Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu is under great pressure domestically. Thousands of people demonstrated over the weekend and demanded an end to the fighting to free the hostages. In the tent campaign in front of Netanyahu's house there were posters and posters calling for the release of the hostages. According to the Times of Israel, it was said: “We love our children more than we hate Hamas.”