A group of distraught relatives of Israeli hostages stormed a parliamentary committee meeting on Monday to demand that lawmakers do more to bring their loved ones home.
Videos are posted online showed about 20 men and women chanting slogans and carrying signs as they pushed past the parliament entrance and into the hearing room where the Knesset Finance Committee was meeting in Jerusalem.
“Release them now, now, now!” said the group as shocked MPs sat around the table.
A woman holds a photo of three family members taken by Hamas terrorists when the Palestinian group attacked the Jewish state Oct. 7.
“Only one I want back, only one out of three!” he is crying.
Other protesters were seen holding signs that read, “You will not sit here while they die here.”
Panel Chairman Moshe Gafni – head of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish party in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government – has finally woken up.
“Redeeming captives is the most important teaching in Judaism, especially in this case, where there is an urgent need to preserve life,” he said.
About 20 of their relatives who are still detained in the Gaza Strip stormed into the hearing room in the Israeli parliament on Monday. X/@KnessetT
But “quitting the coalition won’t achieve anything,” he said.
Israeli officials say dozens of people remain in Hamas custody in the Gaza Strip more than three months after the terror attack.
As the fate of those living in Gaza remains uncertain, the families of the hostages have taken aim at Netanyahu and his right-wing government, calling for new elections.
On Saturday, relatives camped overnight outside Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea north of Tel Aviv to demand the government take bolder steps to secure the release of their loved ones.
“We will not leave it until the hostages return,” said Eli Stivi, whose son Idan is being held in Gaza.
His father went on a hunger strike until Netanyahu agreed to meet with him.
Others were seen blocking traffic in Tel Aviv as they demanded a new deal with the terror group to free the hostages.
The group was seen holding signs saying, “You will not sit here while they die.” X/@ianbremmer Demonstrators were able to push aside a parliamentary usher and enter the hearing room, chanting: “Release them now, now, now!” X/@KnessetT
But over the weekend, Netanyahu rejected a deal he said would require Israel to fully withdraw troops from the Gaza Strip and leave Hamas in power in exchange for ending the current war and bringing home the remaining hostages.
“If we agree to this, our soldiers will fall in vain,” he said.
On Monday, the prime minister doubled down on his refusal to accept the deal, saying, “There is no real proposal by Hamas.
“I’m saying this as clearly as I can because there are so many incorrect statements that must be troubling you,” he told the hostage’s family.
A woman holds a photo of three of her family members taken by Hamas terrorists as the group attacked the Jewish state Oct. 7. X/@KnessetT
Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, responded by saying Netanyahu’s refusal to end the military offensive in the region “means there is no chance of returning [Israeli] prisoner.”
Meanwhile, US, Egyptian and Qatari officials are still working to finalize an agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Recent efforts have focused on negotiating a “multi-phase” deal between the two sides that would include a longer ceasefire, the release of all hostages and increased humanitarian aid in Gaza, according to the Financial Times.
The aim is to use the temporary ceasefire to negotiate a permanent ceasefire, which Hamas insists must be part of any deal.
The terror group has already agreed to a temporary ceasefire of several months, but Israeli officials are demanding a shorter truce, a person familiar with the negotiations told the Financial Times.
Panel chairman Moshe Gafni – head of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish party in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government – finally stood up and stopped the economic briefing. Reuters
Netanyahu previously said that “only a total victory will ensure the elimination of Hamas and the return of all our hostages.”
He also insisted Sunday that once Israel wins, he will demand “full Israeli security control over all territory west of the Jordan River” and will continue to oppose the establishment of a separate Palestinian state.
“My insistence is what has prevented – for years – the establishment of a Palestinian state which would be an inherent danger to Israel,” he said.
“As long as I am prime minister, I will continue to insist on this matter.”
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
